Consequences
by jungleanimal
Summary: When JJ gets sick and can't make it to a press conference, Morgan has to take her place. How does the team deal with the consequences, and how does JJ deal with the guilt? JJxMorgan friendship. no pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**Could not get this idea out of my head. When JJ gets sick and can't make it to a press conference, Morgan has to take her place. What are the consequences and how will JJ deal?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CM :(**

The BAU was in the middle of a tough case. Of course, what cases weren't tough? There were some that they solved quickly and some that took longer, but all involved people dying and grieving and losing. Not just regular citizens, either—FBI agents grieve and lose also. More often than we realize. This was about to be brought to the attention of the citizens of the cities surrounding the DC area.

This particular case was at home, in Quantico, Virginia. Which only made it worse. Every member of the BAU took this case a little too harsh, a little too personal.

Rossi was in his office, looking at a picture he had of the Galen's, the "unfinished business" that brought him back to the BAU. This picture reminded him why he returned and, more important, why he stayed back after he solved the case. He needed to keep catching these guys, he couldn't let there be another Galen family, he just couldn't bare to have another cold case. He would catch this man.

Hotch sat in his office, reflecting. Did he do everything right? Was there something he could have done better? He wasn't too hard on his team, right? No, he wasn't. This guy was smart, but his team was smarter. They would catch him.

JJ was alone in her office as well. She hadn't been feeling great, and could really use a break, but there was no way in hell she was going to take a break with this twisted, disturbed mind on the loose. No, she was going to have to wait until this case was over. Then maybe, just maybe, she would take a few vacation days. Or sick days. Either way works.

Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss were sitting in the lounge, talking about the case. Six people dead so far, and definitely enough evidence to catch the creep, but nothing to compare the evidence to. None the finger prints at the multiple crime scenes showed up in the system, and neither did the DNA found under the victims' fingernails. They had a very specific profile—even a witness. But this guy was flying under the radar.

Of course, some things have a way of working themselves out.

**Outside the FBI building...**

A young man walked by, holding a cane in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. He moved so slowly. The two security guards standing by the door of the FBI building watched him as he passed. He dropped the shopping bag a few feet away from one of them.

He groaned. "Excuse me, sir? Could you pick that up for me?"

"Sure, son," The man answered in a low voice. He strode over and bent down to pick up the bag. But before he could stand back up, the man took his cane and banged him on the head with it, hard. The security guard barely had time to process the pain before blacking out.

"Steve!" The other security guard yelled, holding out a gun at the offender. "Put your hands where I can see them!"

But the man just smiled. He dropped his cane, smirking. Then he nodded. The security guard didn't understand what the nod meant, until he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, as the attacker's partner hit him on the head with the butt of a gun. This man wasn't as strong; it took three hits to the head to knock out the skinnier security guard. But, nevertheless, the two men were free to walk into the FBI building.

"You know, they really should have better security here," The man, who no longer walked with a cane, commented as calmly as someone would about the weather. The second man just nodded. He received a pat on the back as they opened the big, glass doors to the building. They walked calmly over to the elevator, where they pressed the number four. The doors closed as the innocent elevator took the less-than-innocent men to the fourth floor, where the BAU was working on their very case.


	2. Chapter 2

**Still not owning anything... * tear ***

**Thanks for all the great reviews! Keep them coming :)**

"Oh my goodness," Garcia muttered. She had been working with her babies this whole time, trying to find anything to help her team catch the killer. We all know Garcia. We all know she found something.

Quickly, she dialed the unit chief's number.

"_Hotchner."_

"Hiya Hotch, I've got something big."

"_Please tell me it's a confirmation on the finger print."_

"It's a confirmation on the finger print."

"_...Really? That was easy."_

"Well, I make it sound easy. Trust me when I say, it wasn't. You see, our sick guy of the week is Joseph Hamburger. Yes sir, I did just say Hamburger. Why it took me so long to find him is a longer story. You see, when he was a kid, he and his twin brother Kyle robbed their neighbor's house. They found finger prints, but our Joey blamed his brother Kyle, who didn't get his finger prints anywhere on the house. Still, they were young, and Joseph believed that because he and his brother are identical twins, they have the same finger prints. Oh, was he wrong. He was caught, but not convicted because—well, because they were neighbors, and the jury could name a million and a half reasons of why his fingerprints would be in the house."

"_Good work Garcia."_

"Thanks, bossman." Garcia hung up the phone.

CMCMCMCMCMCM

"We got something," Hotch's voice rang throughout the bullpen, "conference room, now."

Hotch, of course, was the first to arrive, quickly followed by Rossi. He seemed very alert, considering his profound lack of sleep.

Prentiss, on the other hand, was very tired. You didn't have to be a profiler to see the tired bags under her eyes, the way her body slouched from exhaustion.

JJ was a different story. She entered, and they all knew something was up. She was definitely not just tired; there was something else.

"You feeling okay, JJ?" Prentiss asked as JJ took her seat. "You don't look too good."

"Thanks for that, Emily," JJ said sarcastically, but smiled to let her know she meant it as a joke. However Emily, being a profiler, knew a distraction when she heard one. And JJ was definitely distracting Emily from the question. She let it slide, though.

Reid and Morgan came in last, arguing about something the rest of the team couldn't care less about. Morgan dropped into the seat next to JJ.

"JJ girl, you catch something? You don't look so hot."

"And the compliments keep coming," JJ muttered. Morgan and Reid shared a confused look, as Prentiss and Hotch grinned.

"That wouldn't be uncommon," Reid began rattling off facts. "Approximately sixty _million_ people catch the influenza, more commonly known as the flu, each year. Also with the H1N1 virus going around--"

"I'm not a statistic, I'm a human being," JJ said kindly. Reid backed down immediately. "Now, Hotch, what did you want to say?"

"We got our guy." Hotch saw as whole team perked up, and saw the light return to their eyes. "His name is Joseph Hamburger--"

Morgan snorted. "Hamburger? I see why this guy is so pissed off."

Hotch ignored that comment. "He is still on the run, but as you all know, he will most likely try to inject himself into the investigation, unless he already has."

"Man, I think we would know if someone by the name of Hamburger as talked to us!" Morgan laughed.

Hotch's spirits, however, couldn't be lifted until he was caught. "Just find him," he ordered.

There was a loud beep from the speakers. "There has been a security breach. Please remain calm." A voice sounded from the speakers. The BAU exchanged a concerned glance. "Everyone please remain where you are—the building is going into immediate lock down."

"Well that's not good," Rossi said, stating the obvious.

"What do you think it is?" JJ asked, coughing.

"I don't know, but I really need you use the lady's room..." Prentiss groaned. Morgan laughed, completely oblivious to what was going on just down the hall.

**Back in Garcia's office...**

Garcia sat there, staring at her computer screen. Another case solved. Another case closed. Another man brought to justice.

"I see you've found me."

Another person in the room? Garcia quickly spun around, startled by the sound of somebody else there.

She immediately recognized the face as that of the man up on her computer screen—the unsub. _Oh, shit,_ she thought. _What would Derek do? What would Derek Morgan do?_

"I knew it wouldn't be long," Joseph Hamburger said, distracting her. "Which is why I came. I also knew it wouldn't be long before you found me. So I found you first." Just as he finished talking, there was a beep from the speakers above her. "There has been a security breach. Please remain calm." An unfamiliar voice informed the extremely unlucky Penelope Garcia. "Everyone please remain where you are—the building is going into immediate lock down."

Garcia stood up from her desk. If she had any hope at all of escaping this, she would have to leave her office, despite the lock down rules. She took a step towards the door. "You're right. We found you. And you walked right into the FBI office."

"Yeah, but you're on lock down. There's nothing anybody can do to stop you."

Taking another step to the door, Garcia noticed yet another person in the room. He looked just like Joseph, but with longer hair. _His twin brother,_ she realized. Then she made a bolt for the door. To her surprise, Kyle quickly moved out of the way to let her run. But before she could process it, Joseph's arm shot out in front of her, holding a gun to her side.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," He said slowly, grinning as if it were a game. Garcia felt her eyes sting with tears, but she held them back, knowing that she was close enough to the door to be heard if she screamed loud enough.

"You do realize that you just trapped yourself?" He looked at her, confused, until she called out: "Help! Hotch, Derek, HELP!"

"Ooh, not smart," Joseph cackled. Garcia winced as the weapon was pushed farther into her side.


	3. Chapter 3

**I promise there is a good dose of Morgan coming up—just wanted to get the story rolling. There will also be a lot of JJ for anybody interested.**

**Enjoy! Review!**

"Help! Hotch, Derek, HELP!" The BAU looked around at each other at the sound of their friend's voice.

"Garcia!" Emily cried. "Oh gosh, Penelope!"

"We've got to go help," JJ stood up, only to be pushed down by Morgan.

"We have to think this through."

"Okay, we have guns and she doesn't. Thought through. Let's go."

Morgan looked at Hotch. They heard a whimper. "JJ's right. Let's go." Hotch ordered. They all drew their weapons and walked slowly, quietly out of the door. Reid gasped when he almost tripped over something on the floor.

"Shh, shh," Morgan hushed. "He can't hear us coming; this is all about surprise." Everybody nodded in agreement. They had to be as quiet as possible.

They were in a straight, organized line as they tip-toed to the other end of the hall, towards Garcia's office. They were all on the verge of tears; what if something happened? But they couldn't think like that. Nothing can happen. Nothing.

They were almost there—they could see Garcia shaking in the doorway, and they saw the back of Joseph's head. _Good,_ they thought._ He can't see us._

That relief was short-lived, however, when JJ turned around abruptly, almost knocking into a startled Rossi. She was the second person in line, just behind Hotch. She had to get away, quickly, but without making any noise.

She shuffled around the team, all of them staring at her. She had to hurry, she couldn't let Joseph hear her!

_Where are you going? _Prentiss signed frantically. They couldn't afford to lose their best shot! But she didn't have time to get an answer before JJ sneezed. _Oh._

Their cover was blown.

Joseph whirled around, gun still pointed at Garcia. She might as well have terror written out on her face, it was that obvious.

JJ practically did have guilt written on hers as Morgan and Garcia glared at her for a fraction of a second.

"Drop the weapon! You are surrounded! DROP IT!" Hotch yelled.

To their surprise, Joseph smiled. He slowly pulled the gun away from Garcia and held it out to his left. Still smiling.

He was caught, he shouldn't be smiling!

"Put down the weapon, Mr. Hamburger!" Morgan demanded. He just held it out. Garcia shook her head, panicked.

From behind the door, a hand reached out and grabbed the gun.

_Another unsub._

The second one came into view. He seemed panicked, disorientated. Like he had no idea what was happening.

That made eight.

"GO!" Joseph bellowed, shoving his brother towards the window.

"Freeze! Don't move!" Nobody knew who shouted it; it could have been everyone, for all they knew. But they did know that he didn't listen.

They were so overwhelmed; who were they supposed to go after? They hadn't planned on two unsubs. What now?

Well, they didn't have much of a choice when Kyle jumped out the window. With the gun.

There was a moment of hesitation before Rossi ran forward and pinned Joseph to the wall, still grinning.

He didn't even fight back. He just said two words. "You lost."

"No, you're caught," Rossi snarled back. But he got no response.

Garcia was crying now, and rushed into the open arms of the team. Except for Rossi, who was forcing Joseph down the hall, and JJ, who was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

"Baby-girl, are you okay?" Morgan asked as soon as he pulled away. She just nodded, wiping the tears away.

JJ approached. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, holding back tears.

"It's not your fault, Jayje," Garcia promised, hugging her.

JJ froze as she saw the intense glare Morgan was throwing at her.

"You okay, sweetie?" Garcia asked, feeling JJ stiffen under her arms.

JJ forced a laugh. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Garcia pulled back. "I don't know, you don't look so good...you feeling okay?"

Reid, Hotch, and Prentiss chuckled.

"I'm fine. Uh, shouldn't we do something about the second unsub?"

"Yeah, we should. Garcia, I'm taking you to the hospital." Morgan said.  
"I'm fine, really," Garcia assured him. Just then, an announcement came on saying that the man was arrested and the building was no longer on lock down.

"That's not a request. It's protocol."

"He's right, Garcia," Hotch informed her.

Garcia groaned. "Fine, but I can go alone. You need to catch this bastard."

Morgan nodded.

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After coming up with a quick profile, they decided to hold a press conference.

"JJ, you're going to need to tell the press everything we know about him."

"Got it."

"And one more thing—he is the follower. He is going to do what he thinks his brother would. Which means he is going to try to follow the investigation, or inject himself into it."

"So what should I say?"

"Tell them...tell them that we will hold another press conference tomorrow morning at 9. He will show up to that one."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

JJ nodded. "Okay, here we go." She coughed.

"Are you up for it?" Emily asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." JJ stole a look at Morgan, who was pacing and facing the wall. "But, Em, tell me the truth—does Morgan hate me right now?"

"No, Jayje. He doesn't hate you. He's just pissed off that somebody attacked Garcia and got away."

"But it's my fault."

"No, it's not your fault. You couldn't help it--"

"Damn right it's your fault!" Neither of the girls had noticed Morgan approach. "If you had walked away a little faster, or if you could just admit to yourself that you couldn't do the job, maybe he wouldn't have gotten away! Or maybe this _never would have happened._"

JJ flinched. Then she practically whispered, "Okay, well I'm going to go hold the press conference now. You know where to find me." She walked away.

"Morgan, what the hell?" Rossi exploded as soon as JJ was out of earshot. "She obviously isn't feeling well, and is drowning in guilt already."

"She should be! Rossi, it's her fault and you know it as well as I do! Maybe if she—if she just could--"

"Derek?" Garcia's voice came through as weak as she walked up. "Derek, I don't blame her. You guys saved me—all of you. Including Jayje."

Morgan groaned. "Sorry, baby girl, it's just--"

"Just nothing. Don't blame her. She needs us right now, more than I do. I'm fine, see? Totally okay. So just get off her case. You hear me?"

"Yeah, Sweetheart, I hear you."

"Good. Now let's catch some criminal bad-ass, who's with me?"

Rossi and Prentiss laughed.

A few minutes later, JJ returned with Hotch behind her.

"How'd it go?" Prentiss asked.

"Great," JJ answered.

"That's good."

"Yeah," Hotch agreed, "and now it's time for everyone to go home. Tomorrow, at the press conference, we will catch him. Goodnight everyone, see you in the morning."

Everybody hugged goodbye as they left. Soon enough, Morgan and JJ were the only ones left.

JJ was about to leave when Morgan stopped her. "I'm sorry, JJ. I shouldn't have blamed you—I was just confused. It shouldn't have been Garcia."

"It shouldn't have been anyone. But it's okay."

Morgan smiled. "So you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I forgive you," JJ grinned back.

"Good. Now go get some sleep, you could use it."

JJ stuck her tongue out at him as she left.

But he was right—they could all use their sleep. Tomorrow was going to be very eventful, even though none of them knew it yet.

**Ooh, suspenseful! Or...at least I hope. The excitement is coming in the next chapter, I promise! Along with more Morgan. Ooh lala!**

**Please please please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Just down the street from the FBI academy, Joseph Hamburger was sitting on the bed in his jail cell, wearing the orange jumpsuit the prison guards had forced him to put on. "Come on, Kyle, follow the plan," He muttered. "You know what to do, we've been through this a million times. You know what to do. We can win this. _We will win._"

The prison guards thought nothing of it; they had too many other problems to take care of to notice the new prisoner acting strangely. If they had been a little less busy and a little more perceptive, maybe the outcome would have been different. Maybe.

**At the FBI academy...**

It was 8:45 in the morning the next day. They had 15 minutes before they had to give the press conference, and they had a huge problem.

"Where's JJ?" Hotch demanded, rushing into the bullpen where the other agents were seated.

Morgan leaned forward in his seat. "You mean she's not here yet?"

"Yes, I mean she's not here yet!" He answered, eyes searching frantically around the area for any sign of their media liaison.

"I'll try calling her," Prentiss suggested, seeing how stressed her boss was.

"Tried that. She didn't pick up. I'm going to go see what I can do; tell me as soon as any of you hear anything," Hotch ordered, already storming away.

Silence. "Damn," Morgan said.

"Yeah. So did you and JJ...erm...work everything out?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah, we are fine now. It was just a misunderstanding. Where do you think she is?" No answer.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry I'm late," a quiet, hoarse voice sounded from behind them. They all whirled around to see their blonde coworker standing there, almost dropping all the files and bags she was holding.

"JJ, where were you? Hotch is freaking out," Rossi informed, just as Reid got up and sprinted to his boss's office.

"Overslept..." She mumbled, dragging her feet uncharacteristically as she lazily walked towards her coworkers.

"Um, JJ? What...what happened to your voice?"

"Oh, I, uh. I lost it," She responded, coughing.

"Jennifer Jareau! You are never allowed to be late again. You have a press conference in ten minutes!" Hotch bellowed, walking back into the bullpen, followed by a terrified Reid.

"Yeah, about that..." JJ said as loudly as she could. However, Hotch could barely make out the words.

He groaned. "JJ, please don't tell me you lost your voice."

She shrugged. "Sorry."

"How?"

Morgan interjected, "I bet it was a late night out."

"I bet she's sick. Look at her," Reid countered.

"_She_ is right here," JJ reminded them.

"Sorry," Morgan and Reid said in unison, making JJ smile.

"What are we going to do about the press? We need to give this speech, it's the only way to get the unsub."

"There's no way she can do it," Reid stated the obvious.

"No shit, Sherlock. I can go," Morgan offered.

JJ laughed, which immediately turned into coughing again.

"You sound horrible," Rossi informed.

"Thanks."

"What was so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. Just the thought of Morgan giving a press conference."

He pointed a finger at her. "Hey, I bet I can do better than you."

Garcia, who had just entered, laughed at this. "Yes, I'm sure muscle-man can talk to people better than our trained media liaison."

"Hey, don't hate me just 'cause I'm beautiful," Morgan scolded playfully.

"Trust me, honey, that's not why."

"Morgan, you sure you can do this?" Hotch interrupted them. This was no time for flirting or playing, or whatever the strange back-and-forth that was constantly going on between Garcia and Morgan was.

"Sure. It's either that or this guy runs free, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Cool. I got it. How long do we have?"

Prentiss looked at her watch. "About two minutes."

"Wonderful. Now, what do I say?" They all looked at JJ—she had planned out the speech, anyways.

"Well, just give the description of the guy. Don't give the name—make him think he has something over us, give him some leverage. Say that we caught the unsub, but his brother is on the loose. Make him feel unappreciated, like he's not as important as Joseph—erm, his brother." JJ paused. "Actually, use his brother's name, just not his."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"He'll probably be there, but you already know that. The rest of us will watch here, from the bullpen."

"Okay. By the way, you sound awful."

"Go away," she joked. "And good luck."

He winked at her, turning around and walking into the sea of reporters.

"This is going to be good," JJ grinned.

Emily sighed. "Yeah, I wish the rest of us could watch."

At JJ's confused look, Rossi explained, "Paper work. Don't you have to finish yours?"

JJ smiled. "One of the numerous perks of being the media liaison. Nope, I have about half as much as you guys." She plopped down in Morgan's usual seat and turned on the TV.

The rest of the team moaned and walked away, unable to concentrate with the television blaring.

Morgan stepped into view of the cameras and onto the screen. He stood behind a podium and began saying what JJ had told him to, almost word for word.

He kept pausing, flustered by all the reporters interrupting with various questions.

Sometimes, no matter how irrational it seems, JJ wonders if maybe she hadn't sneezed at that very moment, she would have been able to stop it. Maybe, if she hadn't been sick, she would have seen the gun and caught him before it happened. But no amount of wishing can change the past.

Just as Morgan was beginning the description of Kyle Hamburger, JJ sneezed. She sighed, and looked around for a tissue. And at that second, two gunshots sounded from the TV.

"Derek," she gasped, and bolted outside.

**At the County Prison...**

"You lose," Joseph muttered calmly, hearing the gunshot from outside his jail cell. "Good work, Kyle; we got them. They lost."

**Hmm...not exactly how I planned it... Reviews? Comments? Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews! They really keep me going. Here's another chapter—enjoy!**

"Derek," She gasped, and bolted outside, not caring when she knocked over the chair. She pushed pass a crowd of people, some of them cursing at her when she ran into them. But she couldn't care less. Because she had just seen her coworker, her friend, get shot.

She pushed open the heavy doors and ran into the sea of reporters and citizens, all of whom were screaming and trying to run away. JJ ran in the opposite direction. She took out her gun and waved it around wildly until they cleared a path for her. She took off and crouched down next to an unconscious Morgan. He was on his stomach, and his back was soaking in blood. She found the two bullet wounds and put pressure on them immediately, doing everything in her power to keep Morgan alive.

The rest of the team heard the gunshot as well. Rossi looked up from his paperwork. "What was that?"

"Gunshot; probably nothing, just some other team catching their guy."

"I don't know—that usually doesn't happen so close to FBI headquarters."

There were nods and mumbles of agreement as they all shrugged and looked back down to their paperwork. Emily, who was insanely bored and couldn't stand another moment of writing, stood up. "I'm going to go check on JJ."

Nobody responded, so she just left. She walked around to the bullpen and saw that the TV had been turned off. Emily looked over to see another agent walking past. "Excuse me, have you seen Agent Jareau of the BAU?"

"Yeah, she just took off in that direction," he said, pointing towards the door. "In a damn rush, too—she nearly trampled me." Prentiss looked at him in shock. "Miss? Are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you," She murmured, and looked back over to the TV. That was when she noticed that the seat JJ had been sitting in was knocked over on its side. "Oh, shit," She whispered, charging back into the room with the rest of the BAU. "Guys, something happened," She panted before running back out again. The team looked confused but followed her.

JJ was still kneeling by Morgan. "Help!" she tried pathetically to yell. "FBI! We need medics! HELP!"

Emily used the same method as JJ, waving her gun around wildly in the sea of crazed reporters and citizens until she finally made it to where JJ and Morgan were. JJ, not daring to lift up one of her hands, exaggeratedly nodded her head in the direction that Kyle went—back into the crowd. Prentiss stared at her for a fraction of second before deciding that she couldn't help here, and needed to catch Kyle.

Holding her gun as steady as possible, she charged passed her team. She felt them staring at her for a moment, but couldn't care less. Someone had shot Morgan, and someone was going to pay.

Kyle was kneeling next to a tree, panting. "FBI! Put your hands where I can see them!"

He looked at her, clearly panicked. They had not gone over this part of the plan! What was he supposed to do?

So he did the only thing he could think of—he pulled his gun. So Emily followed FBI protocol; she shot him first. The first shot penetrated his heart and killed him instantly, yet Prentiss fired at him not once, not twice, but three times. She took off and began running back towards her coworkers, leaving the dead man bleeding, all alone.

After all, it was what he deserved.

_Two shots for the two he fired at Morgan. One for holding a gun at me_, Emily convinced herself as she raced back towards the podium. The crowd of bystanders had thinned noticeably; the few remaining were news reporters, there to film what was happening with the BAU. Emily ironically wondered who was going to give _this_ press conference.

She fell to her knees when she finally got back to the rest of the team. They were all crowded around JJ, who had tears running down her face, but refused to make any sound that would admit to crying. Her hands were soaking in Morgans blood, but still pressed firmly down on the wounds. Rossi's hands were on top of JJ's and covered in blood as well, although he seemed more detached. As a matter of fact, he was staring ahead at the medics pulling a stretcher towards the BAU.

Emily almost laughed—why were they moving so slowly? Are they really that dumb? Somebody had been shot in the back twice, and they were taking their precious time getting the gurney to him. She wanted to scream, to curse, to punch something (or some_one_), but was too out of breath and in shock.

What the hell?! They had barely even moved! What was so damn important that they had to move so slowly? Prentiss imagined one of them bending down to tie his shoe before even attempting to reach the injured agent. It would be fitting, considering how slow and just plain _careless_ they were.

Hotch was apparently thinking the same thing, because he began running up to the ridiculously slow medics to speed things up. He didn't know how much longer JJ would last before things caught up with her and she realized that her own two hands were holding together what was left of Derek Morgan.

Come on, medics, hurry the hell up!

**Kind of short, I know. Sorry if it disappoints **


	6. Chapter 6

**IMPORTANT: Omgg. Sorry for the confusion—while reading dragonflytwin's review, I realized that I did a horrible job explaining. The paramedic _didn't_ actually bend down and tie his shoelaces, she is just thinking that it could happen, because they are not moving fast enough. Like, they are moving so slowly that she believes they would do something as pointless as tie their shoe before they help Morgan. Does that make more sense? Hope so!**

_Come on, medics, hurry the hell up!_

Finally, the paramedics arrived at Morgan and the team. They asked kindly for JJ to take her hands off of Morgan, but she sat frozen. One of them had to pry her hands away to be able to lift him onto the stretcher. Still, she was immobile. Hotch followed the paramedics, saying something to them. He ran back to the team, who were all seated around the large blood stain on the ground, staring in shock.

"Guys," he said, pulling them all out of their thoughts. "I'm riding with Morgan, the rest of you follow behind." He ordered, then ran towards the ambulance again.

Rossi was the first to recover. "Come on, let's go."

Reid and Prentiss stood up. Garcia, who had arrived on scene the same time as the ambulance, nodded in agreement. JJ just sat there, still staring, still not moving. Garcia looked at her, worried.

"You guys go." Rossi suggested. "I'll go with JJ."

Nobody said anything out loud, but they all nodded and moved towards the door.

"JJ, sweetie, you're gonna have to come with me."

She looked up with bloodshot eyes. "I tried," She croaked.

"I know," he whispered and helped her up.

They walked to the car together, silent, worried.

"He was shot in the back." JJ wiped away her tears as she buckled into the passenger seat.

"I know."

"Twice."

"I know. You don't have to talk about it."

"Do you—do you think he's going to be okay? I don't know much about medical...uh, stuff, and I just--" JJ's weak voice trailed off in...thought? In worry? In guilt? Rossi couldn't tell.

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

"Give me something, Rossi! Just tell me anything!"

"Well, I do know that back injuries are hard to predict. They can have very negative consequences, sometimes permanent. Bullet wounds are--"

"Okay! Okay, I got it," JJ begged him to be quiet.

"Sorry, you asked, and I just..." Rossi said after a moment's hesitation.

"Turned into Reid?" She joked, then coughed.

"You okay?"

JJ wanted desperately to say no. No for many reasons: she was sick, she could barely talk. She had just watched her coworker, her friend, get shot and heard the negative effects that he would most likely experience. And she honestly believed that it should be her being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance right now. She wanted to say no. But instead, she went with a more original, "What do you think?"

And Rossi knew the answer.

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"Tell me something, dammit!" Hotch demanded from the unfortunate doctor who was victim to his yelling. He yelled over the irregular beeping coming from the machine Morgan was now hooked up to.

"I'm a little busy now, _Agent_," he snarled, the venom in his voice nearly tangible. Most of the doctors hated FBI agents, and this doctor was president of the anti-agent club.

Just then, the uneven beeping became just a loud, never-ending noise that took Hotch a while to process.

_This could not be happening_.

"He's flat-lining. Clear!" the doctor yelled as he physically pushed Hotch out of the way, so hard that he hit the side of the ambulance. Hotch stood in shock, staring as the doctor carefully, yet quickly, turned Morgan over onto his stomach.

He still had the same look on his face as when he was shot. Fear, confusion, pain. Hotch willed himself to look away, but the orders from his brain didn't reach his body.

The doctor ripped open Morgan's shirt and put the paddles on his chest. "Clear!" He yelled again, and the shock coursed through Morgan's body.

"Nothing. Clear!" There was a beep as Morgan's heart took the shock, but didn't respond.

"Nothing. Clear!" Another beep, followed by another, and another. Hotch let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"You want to know something, _agent_?" the doctor spat. "Your friend here is in very critical condition. Stay out of my way."

Hotch didn't let his back lose contact with the side of the ambulance until they arrived at the hospital.

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"What the hell?" Prentiss exploded as soon as she began driving behind the ambulance. She put the sirens on, and had to yell to be heard.

"Who would do this?" Reid squeaked.

"Kyle Hamburger," Garcia reminded them quietly.

"Oh, right." Reid remembered. "It's just, we usually do this backwards..."

"I understand."

There was a short moment of silence as each of the team members prayed for Morgan's safety.

Prentiss interrupted the silence suddenly. "Does anybody else see what I see?"

Garcia and Reid both refused to say anything, but that was Emily's answer.

If JJ had done the press conference like she was supposed to, Derek wouldn't have been shot.

Nobody even considered the alternative.

Nobody realized it would have been JJ.

They all just needed somebody to blame.

And they found someone.

JJ was in for a living hell.


	7. Chapter 7

**I know it's been forever since I updated. Sorry! But with exams, and my other story (not smart, I know), and everything going on, I just haven't had much time to write. But I'm trying, I promise!**

**This is becoming way more JJ-centric than I originally planned. Please give me some feedback—is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Because I don't have any other chapters typed up, so I can change it if you want less JJ. Or more JJ. Either way works. :p**

The blaring sirens stopped abruptly when the ambulance pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Hotch didn't even hear the words flying out of the paramedic's mouth as he pulled himself out of the vehicle. He was dazed as he stumbled over to where the medics were informing the doctors of Morgan's condition.

He had flat-lined. His heart stopped. He was bleeding uncontrollably. He had two bullets in his back.

The horrible thoughts wouldn't leave his mind.

But he was Derek Morgan. He was strong, he would make it. Right?

_Pull it together, Aaron,_ he scolded himself when his team pulled up in two cars, right behind the ambulance. _The last thing they need now is their leader breaking down. Come on, just breath!_

His coworkers, his friends, bolted up to meet him as he withdrew himself, and hid behind the familiar emotionless mask.

He was Aaron Hotchner, and he would not break.

Rossi nearly lost the ambulance on the way there. Nearly. Some idiot policeman had decided to try and cut him off, to see why he was speeding. He had glanced at JJ to see if she was as pissed of as he was. But instead of seeing the annoyance he had expected, he saw panic etched on her face.

So he tried Emily's method, and turned on the sirens.

The policeman saw the flashing lights and immediately steered away.

It worked.

JJ's face relaxed, but so little that anyone who wasn't a profiler wouldn't have noticed at all. Rossi could tell that she was trying to hide it, but was failing miserably.

As was he.

He had no idea what was going on with Morgan; all that he really knew was that he was shot in the back twice during a press conference. He was pretty sure that Prentiss had gotten the killer—_NO,_ he nearly yelled out loud, but caught himself just in time. _NOT killer, attacker! Dammit, Dave, why do you always think like that?_

His hands gripped noticeably harder on the steering wheel in attempt to keep from letting out his anger.

He was David Rossi, and he would not break.

Reid, as usual, had statistics flying through his mind at an inhuman rate. He tried to combine anything and everything that he knew about back injuries and bullet wounds, but nothing was concrete.

This worried him.

If there was anyone in the world who could be given a situation and predict every possible outcome, it was Reid. But this time, there were too many possibilities. He just didn't have enough specifics—he didn't know how much blood Morgan lost, he didn't even know where in the back he was hit.

In short, he didn't know if Morgan would make it.

It was JJ's fault. Just because she had a cold, she couldn't do the damn press conference. If she had been up there behind the podium instead of Morgan, he wouldn't have been shot.

Or, even if she couldn't handle talking to a few people and cameras, she could at least have gotten to Morgan in time.

Suddenly, another thought hit him.

Everything was JJ's fault.

Well, every time something bad happened to a teammate of his, she was to blame.

Him and Tobias, for example. If she had just expressed her opinion and said more clearly that they shouldn't have split up, he would never have been kidnapped. Or more realistically, if she had ignored the scratch on her arm from the dogs and went to go find Reid, she could have easily taken Tobias down. But no, instead she just stood in the barn and waited for help.

Then there was Prentiss and Cyrus. JJ was in charge of handling the public and press. Somehow, it had been leaked that they were FBI and resulted with Emily getting beaten.

Same thing with Elle. JJ was the one who gave the press conference, yet Elle was shot.

But for now, he just had to focus on making sure Morgan was okay. JJ could wait. She would be around for a while; he wasn't so sure about Morgan.

Reid physically flinched when he thought this. _No, the statistics don't necessarily prove that he will not make it. There is a chance that he could pull through_. He couldn't think like that; not yet, anyways.

He was Spencer Reid, and he would not break.

Prentiss stepped on the gas pedal as hard as she could without losing control of the car. Okay, scratch that; as hard as she could without crashing the car. There were a few times that she went a little astray of the road, but nothing enough to put any of them in danger.

Or, rather, any _more_ of them in danger.

Because Morgan was already on the way to the hospital, and she couldn't stand to put another one of her teammates on a gurney.

Emily wondered if maybe, in some twisted way, this was all her fault.

After all, she was the one who had decided that only JJ could watch Morgan on camera. She had said that the rest of the team had to do paperwork. Maybe if she hadn't said anything, maybe if she could have waited thirty minutes, there would have been more of them out there to help Morgan.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Emily almost missed the hospital, lost in thought. She caught herself just in time and swerved into the parking lot right behind the ambulance, followed by Rossi and JJ.

She mentally kicked herself for believing, even for a moment, that this was her fault. Because that was totally ridiculous.

Because it was obviously JJ's fault.

And now JJ was twisting her mind, making her blame herself.

But she was better than that.

She was Emily Prentiss, and she would not break.

Garcia sat directly behind Emily, her hands in a death grip on her chair as Prentiss frantically swerved and nearly tipped over the car. But she couldn't blame her; Morgan was on the way to the hospital.

Subconsciously, she realized that this was probably how Morgan felt when she was shot.

Garcia didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face at an alarming speed until she caught Reid staring at her. She immediately looked out the window.

There was some annoying, obnoxious sound coming from in the car, but she couldn't quite place it. It sounding like something between a car dying and an animal screeching.

She looked out the window at the trees flying by, just a blur. Just a blur due to their unsafe speed. But who cared about safety when poor, baby Derek was in the hospital?

And could somebody please make the noise stop?

Garcia remembered all the good times and phone conversations that she and Derek had in the past.

It was like his life flashing before _her_ eyes.

But she couldn't think like that. No, she was the type of person who always had a glass half full. She was the type of person who savored the good things instead of reliving the bad. But this was different. This was being relived in her head a million times per minute.

Derek would probably laugh at her. Or with her.

Or he would find some way to get the annoying noise to stop.

Garcia thought of her team. She thought of newbies Prentiss and Rossi. Even though they had been a part of the team for years, they still hadn't been there nearly as long as any of the rest of them.

She thought of poor Reid, whose absurd amount of random knowledge both put her in awe and concerned her. Nobody should know that much, especially someone as young as him.

She thought of Hotch, who, although was the exact opposite of Garcia's happy and cheerful way of viewing things, understood her. Because instead of thinking of all the good things, he chose a different tactic and tried to hide. Even though it definitely didn't seem like it at first glance, they were similar in many ways.

She thought of JJ, who was the calm and strong face of the BAU. She was the one who represented them all, and she was the one who was the most put together.

But she was also to blame.

Garcia started to feel a little light-headed, and she realized where the noise was coming from. It was her, gasping and crying. She stopped abruptly and bit down on her lip to keep herself silent.

She was Penelope Garcia, and she would not break.

The paramedic assigned to Morgan was named Jason. He had been doing this job for two years, and had seen many gunshot victims. But none that were this bad had made it to surgery, let alone out alive. He didn't even want to tell the other FBI agent about the possible consequences of back injuries. Especially gunshots.

Oh, FBI agents. They all think that they are superior to everyone else just because they carry a gun. Well, Jason got to have a defibrillator but that didn't make him better than everyone else!

But something about this man was...different. He called himself Hotchner. Not Agent Hotchner, just plain Hotchner. He seemed less focused on getting everything done his way, and made sure everything was done _right_. This man was different.

The patient flat-lined. He was losing too much blood, and he wasn't strong enough. He was physically fit, yes, but his body just couldn't handle the pressure.

Jason had to push Hotchner out of the way to get to Morgan. After a few shocks, he came back. They would have to be careful.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, two nurses opened the doors. Jason and the other paramedic, Rose, each grabbed an end of the gurney and pulled it up to the doctor standing outside. Doctor Millers. Jason was glad; he was a good doctor, and this man needed the best.

Jason quickly filled the doctor in on Morgan's stats. "FBI SSA Morgan. Two bullet wounds to the back; flat-lined on the way here. Losing blood fast."

Doctor Millers nodded as he turned around, dragging the man on the gurney with him. "I need an OR, stat!" he yelled to anyone who was listening.

As Jason turned back to the ambulance, Hotchner stumbled out, clearly under too much pressure that he was unable to handle. Jason pitied him, if only for a moment. Which was weird; FBI agents don't deserve his pity. They just deserve his expertise and skill. Not any emotions.

He had to keep his feelings in check; any unneeded emotion could lose him his job.

He was Jason Collins, and he would not break.

JJ sat silently as the sirens and honking seemed to fade into the background. She wouldn't have been able to answer had somebody asked her a question, and she couldn't remember any details about the day. Subconsciously, she recognized the symptoms of shock, but couldn't do anything to stop it. She found herself staring at her hands until something caught her attention.

Red.

She gasped out loud at the sight of the bright red covering her hands.

She was pretty sure Rossi asked what was wrong, but she couldn't answer. She was so distracted by the bright red gloves on her hands. How did they get there?

She tried to move her hands, but found them stiff, as if the gloves were made out of paper.

She then realized what the gloves were really made out of—blood.

Her hands were completely covered in Morgan's dried blood. It all came flooding back into her memory—being sick, coming late, being scolded by Hotch and the team. But the most vivid memories consisted of the same red that now coated both of her hands. She remembered the gunshots. And she couldn't take it. She leaned down and threw up at her feet.

Something was on her back, which she immediately flinched away from. But she regretted it, once she realized that it was just Rossi's hand, rubbing comforting circles as her breakfast reappeared on the floor of the car.

_This was not happening._ She was JJ; she was strong, always calm and together. When anybody, or everybody, else on her team was nearly losing their sanity, JJ could put them back together and remind them who they really are. When anybody else would have wanted to scream, cry, and possibly hurt themselves, JJ just remembered all the good things in life. Except now.

She was Jennifer Jareau, and she reached her breaking point.

**So? What do you think? Again, ended a little different than I thought, but that's okay. Personally, I like it.**

**Next chapter will be the team waiting on Morgan's condition, and lots of Derek is promised.**


	8. Chapter 8

"_**No good deed goes unpunished." ~Wicked, the musical**_

**Found this quote and thought it definitely worked for this story :)**

**So most people said that they want it JJ-centric (actually, everyone did) so that's what I will write. Good, because it actually works with the story really well. Enjoy!**

**_IMPORTANT: _Just a heads-up, I have absolutely positively NO medical experience, and the little medical knowledge I have is from Grey's Anatomy and House. So sorry for all the inaccuracies, in this chapter and future chapters.**

It had been three of the longest hours in history, Garcia decided. The whole team had been sitting around, pacing, or a combination of the two. Hotch and Rossi were standing up the whole time. Reid and Prentiss had been pacing for a while, before getting tired and sitting. But they couldn't sit still, so they stood back up and continued pacing. JJ had been sitting the whole time, but was anything but calm. Her eyes were sharp and her head jerked towards the source of every sound made. She was sitting on the edge of her chair, tapping her foot. For three. Whole. Hours. Garcia wanted nothing more than to just throw something heavy on her ever-moving leg and keep it quiet, but couldn't find anything that would work. Plus, she decided it would be a little rude.

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_He is five years old, and his dad is teaching him how to throw a football. "Remember to follow through when you throw, Derek. Just like this," his dad reminds him, tossing him a perfect spiral. "I'm trying," little Derek complains as he jumped and caught the ball perfectly. "Beautiful catch, son."_

_He is ten years old, and his dad is being held at gunpoint by some gang-banger. "Derek, run!" Mr. Morgan orders. His deep voice is barely raised, yet Derek knows that he is screaming inside. Derek never found out whether he refused to move, or whether his brain wouldn't let him. But he didn't obey his father. When his father tries to escape the hostage situation, the gun went off. It all happens so fast, Derek's little mind can barely keep up. The bullet flies out of the gun and spirals through the air—just like when he throws a football, Derek remembers thinking. The bang as the bullet left the weapon, however, was nothing compared to the nearly silent gasp that was his father letting out his last breath of air. That sound still echoes in his head, in his dreams._

_He is thirteen, and he is picking a fight with some loser hanging around. He made fun of his football skills, so he went after him. Derek had to admit, it felt good; finally letting loose, letting some of his anger out. That is, until the police came._

_He is fifteen, and Carl Buford is taking him up to his cabin again. He knows what will happen when he arrives, but he can't give up on himself, on his family. He must be successful. He is the man of the house now, and he has to set a good example._

_He is eighteen, and he is running across the field. He hears his family, his friends, even strangers screaming his name. But all the voices seem to blur together. Except one; one voice stands out. "Remember to follow through when you throw, Derek. Beautiful catch, son." He smiles as his dad cheers him on. The slight smile becomes and ear-to-ear grin when he makes the winning touchdown._

_He is twenty, and it is his first day working for the bomb squad. Although everything is intense and scary, he cannot help but feel excited. He made it through his teen years; he got a successful job. He won._

_He is twenty-five, and he is now a police officer in Chicago. He walks around the familiar streets, taking care of the gang members. Taking care of the bastards that shot his dad right in front of him, thirteen long years ago._

_He is twenty-nine, and it is his first day working for the BAU. Everybody seems nice, and nobody is as pushy as they were rumored to be. They had a rule against inter-team profiling, to which Derek was very grateful._

_He is thirty-five, and he is in surgery after being shot on duty._

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"Derek Morgan?"

Rossi, Hotch, Reid, and Prentiss all stopped pacing. JJ's foot tapping stopped as well. All six agents (including Garcia) looked at the doctor expectantly. Worried.

"Derek Morgan?" He repeated. "Are you here for Agent Derek Morgan?"

"Yes," Hotch answered quickly.

The doctor nodded. "I am Doctor Millers; I am Agent Morgan's surgeon. He just got out of surgery."

"How is he?" Reid asked, barely giving the surgeon a chance to finish his sentence.

"Agent Morgan received two bullet wounds to the back, both narrowly missing his spine. We were able to remove both bullets and all bullet fragments."

"So he's okay?" Prentiss asked.

Dr. Millers smiled. "Agent Morgan is a very lucky man."

Hotch, however, detected something. Something that the doctor was holding back. He sensed a "but." "What aren't you saying?" He asked seriously. He stared at the poor doctor so he had no choice but to give in.

"Back injuries are very serious, and sometimes can result in permanent damage."

"D-damage? What are you talking about?" Garcia stuttered.

The doctor took a deep breath before continuing, "Sometimes, it can result in paralysis in certain parts of the body. Based on the position of the bullets, Morgan may have problems with his lower limbs, like his legs and feet."

"Are you saying that one of my agents will be paralyzed from the waist down?" Hotch asked, shocked. Angry, even.

Not Morgan.

"I'm saying there is a possibility. It's impossible to know until Morgan wakes up from the anesthesia."

No response. The doctor seemed to understand this, however, as he gave them a few moments to digest this information before continuing. "I'm so sorry. We did everything we could."

"Can...can we see him?"

The doctor shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, but no. He needs some sleep now; however, he should wake up within the next hour or so. I will let you know as soon as he does." He walked away slowly as the team all turned around and faced the waiting room chairs.

JJ could _feel_ the laser-sharp burns coming from the five pairs of eyes which were now staring her down.

"I need some air," she muttered as she stood up and walked outside.

As she opened the door, a refreshing blast of cool air hit her face and blew back her hair.

The irony was almost as bad as the looks she received from the team. How could the sun be shining so brightly down on the sidewalk? How could it heat up the air like it was the happiest day in the world?

Even though she knew it was cliché, JJ was expecting rain. She was expecting the dark, gray clouds to hover right above her head, and for them to pour down rain on her. She was waiting for a loud roar of thunder, or a bright flash of lightening. But...nothing. She wanted a storm to come, for the weather to reflect her feelings.

Instead, she had to squint her eyes to block out the radiant sunlight.

She didn't understand. She didn't understand why the atmosphere was so stubborn, so wrong. But even more, she did not understand why he was shot. She used to believe that everything happened for a reason. She used to have faith. But now, she just felt lost. Like she had no place in the world. She felt like she didn't know what she was doing here.

Because, all Derek had tried to do was help. She couldn't give the press conference, so he offered to do it for her. He was being helpful; he was being nice. Even though he didn't want to, he spoke to the public for her. And because of that, he was currently sitting on a hospital bed, out cold from the anesthetic he received from surgery.

He literally received a bullet for doing the right thing.

**So this story is turning out to be wayyy longer than I expected (like I still have a lot more planned for this)...but that's a good thing, right?**

**Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Everyone is saying something should happen to JJ and trust me, I have something planned. I'm not saying anything else ;)**

**So after this chapter I will try to get things rolling and moving faster (not as in updating faster, but having more action in each chapter...)**

**Thanks soooo much to everyone for the incredible reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.**

**Again, sorry for all medical mistakes :p**

"_Derek? Agent Morgan, you here with me?"_ The voice sounded to Morgan like it was a thousand miles away, yet it made his head throb. He tried to talk, but he was pretty sure all that came out was a moan.

"Hey, look who's back!" Now Morgan was sure he had never heard this voice before. Where was he? Why couldn't he move? "Can you open your eyes for me, Agent?"

Morgan moaned again. "Whoa there, pal, don't try to talk," the man said. "Just open your eyes. Can you do that?"

Annoyed that he couldn't respond any other way, Morgan took a deep breath and his eyelids fluttered slightly. "Okay, good. Try again for me." This time, Morgan groaned when he tried to lift his eyelids, only to get them halfway there before they fell back shut. "One last time."

Now he was really pissed off. Why couldn't he open his damn eyes? It is such an easy task. He would have bet that something (or some_one_) was holding them down. But he tried one more time. And succeeded.

He blinked against the harsh light, which was adding to his throbbing headache. "Excuse me," the man whispered, facing off to the side, "could you please close those? Thanks so much," he added when the light faded. Morgan guessed somebody just closed the blinds.

"Agent Morgan, do you remember what happened?"

"No," Morgan grunted. Then, "Who're you?" His words blended together, but the strange man understood them.

"I'm Dr. Young, and this over here is Dr. Millers. He is your surgeon." Another man stepped into view.

Then again: "Who're you?"

"I'm going to be your doctor."

"Why?"

"Derek, do you remember anything that happened?"

"No," Morgan spat. He already told him, and he _hated_ repeating himself. Plus, the fact that he forgot what landed him in the hospital just showed weakness. "Nothing."

The man, Dr. Young, nodded. "Okay. Would you like to see your team?"

Morgan nodded sharply. Yes, he would like to see a familiar face. Yes, he would like to talk to someone who may actually answer back.

"Okay. Dr. Millers and I will go get them now." Dr. Young said just before they exited.

Morgan looked around. The room was now dark, for which he was grateful. There was something in his arm, and he saw that it was connected to a bag of some sort, which was feeding him drugs. Something holding his finger in place was attached to a beeping machine.

But Morgan was an FBI agent, an investigator. A machine and a bag were not going to cut it. Wanting to see more of his surroundings, he attempted to sit up, only to be greeted by excruciating pain in his back. His arms collapsed as he fell back to the bed, gasping for air.

"Whoa there, big guy. Try not to move for once," Hotch's voice said from the doorway.

"Hey, Hotch." Hotch walked in, followed closely by Garcia and Rossi, then Prentiss and Reid. "Do ya mind telling me what the hell is going on here?"

Prentiss and Garcia shared a glance. "You mean you don't remember?"

"Well, we can't all be Reid," he responded, glancing at the now-blushing young agent.

Garcia laughed. "True that. Imagine a world of Reids! Everybody would know everything about everything and everybody!"

"Actually, that is statistically impossible. There is absolutely _no_ way one individual can know everything there is to know, especially because some things are yet to be discovered."

"So not the time, kid."

"Sorry."

Morgan laughed, then groaned as he sunk deeper in to the stiff bed.

"Does it hurt?" Garcia asked, concerned.

"Well yeah, but I don't know what 'it' is," Morgan admitted.

"You don't remember anything?"

"No," Morgan emphasized through his teeth. How many times were people going to ask him that?

"The doctor said that might happen. Something about a traumatic experience," Garcia rambled. "It will probably come back to you--"

"Baby-girl, it's fine. Based on the way I feel now, I'm kind of glad I don't remember."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah, that bad." Morgan said, yawning.

"You need your sleep," Hotch said strictly. "We will leave now and let you rest, but we will still be in the hospital."

"You got it, Hotch," Morgan replied sleepily. They all left the room quietly, and Garcia kissed him lightly on the head before leaving.

As he dreamed, he remembered.

Only little details, though. He recalled standing up in front of very pushy, insistent, demanding reporters. He remembered feeling sorry for JJ, because that must be how she feels all the time.

He remembered a loud crack, and he remembered falling.

He remembered blackness.

"BP's rising. Get me a crash cart," Dr. Young demanded of the closest nurse when Morgan's heart rate and blood pressure rocketed sky-high.

The nurse nodded as she ran out of the room, only to quickly return with a crash cart and another nurse. "Wait...wait...he's coming back..." Dr. Young stood in between the patient and the nurses as Morgan's heart returned to normal.

His eyes shot open. "Hey there, everything okay?"

"I remember," Derek gasped.

"Here, have some water," Dr. Young offered. When Morgan nodded, Dr. Young walked over to near the now open window and picked up an already full cup of water. He held it to Morgan's mouth as he greedily gulped it down.

"Whoa, slow down. There's more where that came from," Dr. Young laughed.

"I need to see my team." Morgan demanded. Then, when the doctor made no attempt to move, he added sternly, "Now."

Dr. Young nodded and went to get the team in the room.

"Everything okay?" Prentiss asked right as she walked through the door, followed by the rest of the team.

"I remember. Or, at least, I think I do. I was shot by the unsub's brother?"

"Yeah." Rossi sighed.

Morgan nodded, until another thought popped into his mind. "Wait, one question—why the hell was I giving a press conference?"

Prentiss laughed. "Good question." Then, "Sorry. No time for jokes."

"No, it's fine," Morgan reassured her. It was comforting, knowing that somebody was treating him like a normal human being.

"So, why? Oh, wait! JJ was sick." He looked around and his eyes widened. "JJ—where's Jayje? Is she okay? She didn't get worse, did she?" He asked quickly, eyes searching the room frantically.

The team's eyes grew wide slowly. "Oh gosh, JJ," Prentiss gasped before making her way out of the room. Not slowly, but not in a hurry either. Just walking.

"What? What happened? Somebody tell me what's going on!" Morgan ordered.

Reid, Rossi, and Garcia were all looking down at the floor—shameful? Hotch was looking at the wall just above Morgan's head.

"She's outside." He answered, still not looking at Morgan, who let out a sigh of relief.

"So she's okay?" When Hotch nodded, he proceeded to ask why she was outside.

"She just needed some air. She's fine."

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JJ was still outside—had been for almost an hour. She was soaking up the sun, letting the cool wind blow her hair back. She used to love this weather.

The door opened yet again. For the first time since she came outside, she didn't feel the need to turn around. The sound no longer startled her, because she was no longer on edge.

Until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Gasping, she turned around and ended up face-to-face with Prentiss. "Oh gosh, Em, you scared me!" JJ said, coughing.

"Sorry."

"What's up? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Morgan's up. He's fine."

"You...you saw him?" She asked. Confused, hurt.

"Yeah."

JJ nodded. "And when were you planning on telling me?"

Prentiss pretended she didn't hear as she turned back towards the hospital. Because the truth would hurt too much, and she had never been one to unnecessarily hurt people.

And JJ would definitely be hurt if she knew that all five of them forgot about her.

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"Oh, Jayje, I'm so glad you're okay," Morgan said when JJ and Emily returned.

"Shouldn't I be saying that about you?" She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I guess so. Hey, you sound better," he commented, trying to keep the attention off of him.

"Thanks," she muttered with the same smile masking her face. "So how are you feeling? Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Oh, stupid question, of course you're in pain...Derek? Are you okay? Derek?"

"Jeez, JJ, give me a second to answer." Morgan smiled slightly. "Yes, it hurts but I think the morphine they are pumping me with is working."

"Good, that's good."

Morgan yawned again. "Gosh, what is wrong with me? I'm so tired..."

"You just got shot and had major surgery. We would have a problem if you _weren't_ tired," Hotch said. "Go to sleep. We won't leave."

"Deal. Oh, one last thing, Hotch."

"Sure, anything."

"Why can't I feel my legs?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate it**

"He can't feel his legs. He can't feel his legs! The doctor said this would happen, we warned us," Garcia wailed, crying into Emily's arms. "He's paralyzed. Our chocolate hottie is paralyzed!"

Emily had nothing to say. Or, rather, if she did say anything, the rest of them would detect the tremor in her voice and she would cry as well. So instead, she stayed silent as her friend's tears soaked through her shirt.

Reid was still looking at the up-side of the situation—maybe he wasn't paralyzed, maybe it wouldn't be permanent, etc.

"Garcia," Hotch said softly, "the doctor is just taking a look. It could be nothing."

Trying to calm herself, Garcia pulled away from Emily and took deep, shaky breaths. "Right," she tried to agree. "Right, could be nothing. Could be nothing. Right." She repeated over and over again. But in her heart she knew that something was wrong. The doctor had expected this, and now it was happening.

No, it couldn't be happening. Hotch was right; nothing was wrong. Nothing could be wrong. He was already shot twice—wasn't that enough drama for one day?

Emily shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around herself tightly. There was absolutely no way this could happen to Morgan, she reminded herself. Morgan was the strongest and most fit person she knew. He was the one to kick his way into houses and tackle the unsubs.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice told her that physical fitness could not have any affect on a bullet, but she pushed that thought away. Because nothing could happen to Derek.

Rossi was pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. He was so incredibly confused. Although the rational part of his mind was saying that Derek was permanently handicapped, the rest of him wouldn't allow it and truly believed that he would be okay.

JJ sat with her head resting in her hands, her breathing too steady and her body too still to be normal. She was controlling her emotions so that her team wouldn't profile her, and wouldn't be able to see the guilt eating her up.

Hotch watched as Garcia attempted to calm herself, and pretended not to notice Emily's discomfort. He ignored Rossi's internal struggle and honestly didn't notice JJ's. Attempting not to profile his team, he sat down and crossed his legs and arms, trying to physically and emotionally close himself off. His team was falling apart around him, and there was nothing he could do.

But he did believe what he told Garcia. The doctors had not said anything specific, so why jump to conclusions?

_Denial_, he realized. Denial. He and his team were in denial. This could not be happening to Morgan, they were all thinking. This could not happen because they were in denial.

The first of the five stages of grief.

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"Hello, BAU." Dr. Young greeted.

"How is he?" Prentiss asked, her words running together with Garcia's "Is it permanent?"

"Wow," Dr. Young breathed. "I don't know if it's the job or what, but you guys are pretty tense."

"So...he's okay?" Hotch asked.

Dr. Young looked thoughtful. "The job, I'm guessing. Now, you're profiling me."

"He's fine?"

"Just a side-affect of the morphine. It will take a lot of work and physical therapy, but eventually he will be able to move almost as well as before."

"Almost?" Garcia's face fell.

"Eventually?" Rossi repeated. "How long are we talking here?"

"Breathe," Dr. Young reminded. "Yes, Garcia, he will be _almost_ as good as new. It will take a lot of hard and painful work, and he will never be 100 percent, but I'd say he will make it to at least 90-95 percent mobility. And, Agent Rossi, it will take a long time. Normally, I'd say years and years, but seeing as how Agent Morgan is so persistent and stubborn, maybe just a few years."

"Years." Hotch repeated. "Are you saying that after a few years, my agent will only be able to walk?"

"Agent Hotchner, this is good news. I'm saying that your agent will be fine! What else do you want from me?"

Hotch's eyes narrowed. "How do you know our names?"

"Oh, while I was in there, Agent Morgan told me all about you guys. _All_ about you guys," he added suggestively.

"What did he say?" Emily asked.

Dr. Young shrugged. "Sorry. Doctor-patient confidentiality."

Emily snorted.

"Miss Prentiss, some respect would be appreciated."

Ignoring that, JJ asked if they could see him.

"Of course!"

"What did you say about us?" Garcia ordered.

"I don't know what you mean," Morgan said, the huge smile on his face suggesting the opposite.

"I hate it when people talk behind my back," Garcia growled.

"Baby-girl, what could I say about you that's bad?"

Garcia smiled. "Good point."

"Come on, Morgan," Prentiss pleaded. "What did you say?"

"Jesus, what the hell did the doctor tell you? Because I honestly didn't accuse any of you of anything. Don't worry, Reid, I kept your secret," he winked jokingly.

"Anything you want to tell us, Doctor Reid?" Garcia played along.

"Nope. Nothing I _want_ to tell you," Reid joked as well.

"Are you sure, Spence?" JJ tried.

Reid just stared at her. "No." One short, sharp syllable.

JJ nodded slowly and looked at the ground.

Morgan wondered what was going on here. Why was JJ so down? She looked...humiliated, guilty, and hurt.

Then he realized. Were they blaming JJ for what happened to him?

Hotch's phone rang. "Strauss," he informed. "Maybe I should take this outside. Uh, you should probably come with me."

The team nodded as they left.

"Hey, Penelope, don't be in such a hurry to leave," Morgan said.

"Hmm?"

"Penelope Garcia," he stated, "the beautiful blonde one. Probably wearing some ridiculous outfit consisting of lots of colors that matches her hair."

"Do I need to get the doctor?" she asked, worried.

Morgan laughed. "Girl, I already told the doctor this." Garcia realized that this is what he told Dr. Young, so she let him continue. "She is the only one who really understands me. When I need someone to call, she's the one. When I need someone to talk to, she's always there. I can count on her to remind me, and the rest of my team, to be human. She reminds me how to be _happy. _She reminds me to love, even when this job steals away all my emotions except for hatred and disgust. Penelope Garcia, the funny, smart, emotional one. Penelope Garcia, the technical analyst."

Tears filled her eyes. "I'm not emotional," she joked.

"Of course not, baby-girl. Now maybe you should get back to the team before they think something's up."

She nodded and turned around to leave.

"What did I miss?" she asked as she approached.

"Strauss hired a therapist for us, which I denied," Hotch informed.

"Of course," Garcia giggled, but then she saw the upset and uncomfortable looks on the teams' faces. "What aren't you telling me?"

Hotch took a deep breath. "We have to start work again tomorrow. She just informed me that she has hired a replacement for Morgan."

**Please, please, please review! Not sure what I think about this chapter, but I haven't updated in a while so I'm putting it up. I may change it, I may not. Depends.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

"No."

"Garcia, I..."

"No."

"Garcia--"

"No! Fine, we have a new agent, but he is NOT a replacement for Morgan! Not a replacement, just a...I don't know, a 'spot fill-in' or something."

Hotch didn't know what to say. "I think it's best if we all just go home now. I'll see you all in the morning. Same time as always." With several mumbles and nods, the team dispersed.

Rossi approached JJ as she was walking out. "Your car is still at the office—do you need a ride?"

"That would be nice, thanks," JJ said quietly. She slowly got into the passenger side and buckled up. "You have my address, don't you?"

"Yeah, you don't live too far, right?"

"Right," JJ nodded, coughing.

"You feel alright?" Rossi asked as he drove away.

"Fine."

"You sure? If you need a day off or something, I'm sure Hotch will--"

"I'm fine," she insisted. After a moment of silence, she elaborated, "If I take a day off, they'll think I'm weak. I'm not weak."

"They won't think any less of you. Everyone gets sick, Jennifer."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. If I take some sick days, they will think it's because of Morgan. I can deal when he's not here, but they are going to think I'm inferior or something."

"You can't possibly know that."

"Yes, I do."

"How?"

JJ sighed. "Don't go all profiler on me, Rossi."

Rossi shrugged, presumably defeated until JJ continued. "They blame me. All of them."

"No, they don't," Rossi lied. The truth was, he knew that they all did. He even did—that was why he offered to drive her home. He believed that if he spent more time with her, he would pity her and not feel like this was her fault. Because he didn't want to feel like this, he really didn't, but he couldn't help it.

"Don't lie to me, Rossi. I've picked up some tricks working with you guys for years. I know what people are thinking, especially when they don't even try hiding it."

Rossi turned onto JJ's street. "Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, JJ. Feel better. And remember, if you need anything, I always have my phone on."

JJ smiled sweetly and closed the door.

She rummaged through her purse until she found her key. Opening the door quietly as so not to wake up Henry, she stepped inside and wiped off her shoes on the rug.

"JJ," Will muttered, pulling her into a hug. "I heard what happened—is it true?"

"Depends," JJ whispered, clearing her throat. "What did you hear?"

"Derek was shot while giving a press conference. Twice in the back. Is he okay?"

"He's not dead, but he's not okay either. He's looking at loads of tough years in physical therapy."

"I'm so sorry, honey. I wish there was something I could do." He pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her softly on the lips, his mouth lingering over hers a little longer than necessary. "You feel okay? You're a little warm and I know you haven't been feeling well..."

"I'm fine," JJ snapped, then sighed. "Sorry, but everyone's been asking me that today. Just tired of it."

"I know, I just don't think all the stress is helping. Don't kill me, but do you think maybe taking a few days off will help?"

"I've already had this conversation with Rossi. What I _know_ will help is getting some sleep."

"Okay, babe. Oh, one more important thing."

"Yes?"

"My mother just got her new house and wanted me to come and help her move, so I am taking Henry down with me to New Orleans tomorrow." JJ smiled slightly at the way he said his home city, but frowned quickly.

"Tomorrow?"

"I was going to tell you earlier, but I knew this was an intense case and I didn't want you to be distracted--"

"I understand. So how long are you going to be down there?"

"One week, maybe two. You can come if you want to, but you probably want to be here for Morgan."

JJ sighed. "Yeah, I do. Let's go to bed, okay?"

"Sounds good."

***

"Bye-bye, sweetie. Love you," JJ smiled as she said goodbye to her son.

"Mommy! Bye, mommy," Henry leaned up to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned away. "Mommy?"

"Mommy's not feeling well. I want you to be perfect when you see Grandma LaMontagne."

"Mommy sick?"

JJ sighed. "Yes, mommy is sick. But mommy has to go to work now. Have fun with daddy and grandma for me!"

"Okay Mommy!" JJ pulled him into a tight hug.

"Bye, Will," JJ said as he kissed her on the cheek. She smiled a fake smile and waved goodbye as she started her car.

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"Hey, any news?" JJ asked Hotch when she arrived at work.

"No."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

JJ nodded slowly. One-word answers were never good. "Um, so when is the new agent coming?" She refused to think of him as a replacement for Morgan.

"Today. Around 9."

"Okay," JJ said as she made her way up to her office.

She heard Prentiss from behind her, "Hey Hotch. Any news on Derek?"

"No, just that he is trying to convince the doctors to let him go. Obviously, it's not going to work; he has to stay there for therapy also." JJ wondered why she didn't get this information.

Emily sighed. "So, when is the new agent coming?"

"Around 9. His name is Daniel Cooper and he is actually around Morgan's age. He is transferring from the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland."

JJ stopped halfway up the stairs to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"Oh, so he's not moving very far. What else can you tell me about him?"

"Just that his father was in the force too. He was born in Miami, and I've heard that he had a rough time adjusting to both the cold and the small county, but he fits in fine now."

"This will be tough for him. Nobody is going to give him an easy time."

"No, probably not."

JJ hadn't notice Rossi approach her. "You okay there?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine," JJ said as she began walking again.

"I guess you didn't take the day off."

"Nope. That would be why I'm here." She paused for a moment, debating whether or not to say something. She decided to ask Rossi if he could talk for a minute.

"Uh, actually I, um, have stuff to do," he mumbled as he walked away.

"O-kay," JJ said quietly to herself. "That's fine. Wasn't important anyways."

JJ walked quickly into her office. It looked just the way she left it—messy, disorganized. She gasped slightly as she took in her surroundings. How had she worked like this before? Her office space was a disaster zone, with papers and files piled high on top of each other.

She decided it was time to start fresh, time to clean. But she had no idea where to begin.

So she started on her desk. She organized all of the files, making sure there were no loose papers. She put all of her pens and pencils in one jar. She even adjusted her computer screen so that it was at just the right angle.

She had no idea how much time had passed by until she saw a new face in the bullpen.

He had a sharp, angular face. He was tall and very muscular. His pale skin contrasted with his deep brown hair. He was cleanly shaven, though, accenting his sharp features even more.

His gray eyes were bright and had a kind of gleam in them. An anxious gleam.

JJ walked out of her office slowly, listening to the conversations going on as she went to greet her new team member.

"Daniel Cooper," He introduced himself, holding his hand out to Reid. _He should know better_, JJ thought. _Reid doesn't shake._ "Daniel is fine, though."

"Spencer Reid." To JJ's surprise, Reid took his hand and shook it lamely. New beginnings, new traditions, she figured.

"The genius of the group," Prentiss said, holding out her hand as well. "I'm Emily Prentiss."

"Emily Prentiss," he said as though trying it out for sound. "The beauty of the group?"

Emily smiled widely at him, then turned to Reid and Rossi. "Uh...have you met Agent Morgan before?"

Daniel thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Nope. Never. Why?"

Prentiss grinned. "No reason."

"David Rossi." Rossi shook his hand as well. "Our boss, SSA Aaron Hotchner, is upstairs in his office, along with—oh, there she is! JJ!"

JJ didn't miss the slight looks of disgust on her teammates' faces. "Hello, I'm Jennifer Jareau." JJ winced at the sound of her voice. It was still hoarse from being sick. "You can call me JJ."

"JJ, nice to meet you," he smiled like a real gentleman.

"Likewise. I'm the media liaison of the team—not a real profiler, I just hang out with you guys." JJ joked, smiling. The rest of the team rolled their eyes at her lame joke and went back to their work.

"Hmm, sounds fun," Daniel laughed absently. JJ coughed. "You okay?"

She waved him off. "Fine, fine."

"Guys, we got a new case," Hotch informed, storming out of his office and down the stairs.

"Already?" Prentiss asked.

"Emergency," Hotch explained. "Briefing room, now."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, JJ wondered why she wasn't informed beforehand like she usually was.

On the way to the briefing room, Emily explained to Daniel how these things usually work, but JJ wasn't paying attention. She sat down as far away from the screen as possible.

"Olney, Maryland," he began, but Daniel cut him off.

"You're kidding?" When Hotch shook his head, Daniel explained, "I used to work for the or Montgomery County Police. Some of the county is in Olney." Daniel sighed. "And so is my home. I guess I was just excited to go out of the small town."

"Sorry," Hotch said, "but this is important. People are being murdered at Sherwood High School. More specifically, people on the school's track team. One by one, random order. One every other day. The MO suggests multiple unsubs."

"What's the COD?" Rossi asked.

"Asphyxiation and blunt force trauma. Five victims, two MO's."

"So we are most likely looking at two unsubs. Where did the murders take place?" Daniel said officially. The team looked at him, confused for a moment. He shrugged. "I did my research."

"They occurred in different places in front of the school, but all five bodies were dumped by the street."

"When was the last murder?" Prentiss asked.

"Yesterday."

"So we have until tomorrow to catch this guy," JJ nearly whispered.

"Yes. Wheel's up in twenty."

"So, Jennifer--" Daniel began as the team left.

"JJ, please."

"JJ." Daniel chuckled. "I think I may need some help adjusting to this place. Care to help?"

"Sure, what can I do for you?" JJ asked sweetly.

"Just show me around, tell me how things work."

"Of course. First off, we have less than twenty minutes to get on the jet, so what we do now is gather our things and get ready for our case."

"Okay. See you on the plane?"

"Yeah, see you," JJ said, walking away.

_She's the one_, Daniel thought as the blonde beauty left the room. _It's perfect—she's perfect. She's the one._

Suddenly, Daniel was very glad that the new case was near his home.

**Ooh, suspense!**

**I haven't updated in a while, so I put this chapter up before re-re-re-reading it like I usually do ;) so PLEASE, tell me what you think!**

**I'm trying to get the story moving faster so it's not like 800 chapters, but it's not working very well. Whatever, more story! Yay! **


	12. Chapter 12

"Prentiss and I are going to go check on Morgan, tell him where we're going," Hotch said. "The rest of you, go to the Montgomery County Police Department and talk to the officers there, figure out what you can. We will meet you there."

Everybody nodded. Rossi, Daniel, Reid, and JJ left to go get on the plane while Hotch and Emily hung back for a moment.

"You ready for this?" Hotch asked.

"No," Emily sighed, "but I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Hotch nodded in agreement as they got in the van and drove to the hospital.

"Hey, long time no see," Morgan joked from his bed as the nurses fussed over him.

Hotch noticed that they were all female nurses.

Same old Morgan.

"Hey, what can I say, I just can't go that long without seeing you," Emily shot back. She tried, and failed, to hold back a laugh as one of the nurses glared at her enviously.

"Well, Morgan, we just came to check up on you," Hotch said.

"No, you didn't. Just because I'm stuck in this crappy bed does _not_ interfere with my profiling skills. You two came to tell me something."

"Daniel is nice," Emily said. "Daniel Cooper. He's from Montgomery County, and he's a real ladies' man."

"What, are you trying to replace me?" Emily flinched. "Hey now, it was just a joke."

"I know," Prentiss muttered.

"So, really, what did you come here for?"

"We have a new case."

"Shocker."

"It's in Olney, Maryland, so it's not too far, but we may not be able to visit for a while. Of course, we could send someone down every once in a while if you want..." Hotch offered.

"I'm a big boy, Boss. I can handle myself," He winked at the nurses leaving.

"Yeah, I can see that," Emily laughed.

"So you'll be okay?" Hotch asked, worried.

"I'll be fine, man," Morgan reassured. "But before you go, I have one thing to say."

"Anything."

"Emily, leave."

"_What?_"

"Don't worry, you'll have your turn, but right now it's Hotch."

Emily groaned as she left the room.

"What's the matter, Derek?"

"Jeez, Hotch, chill out, man. Nothing's wrong, just wanted to say something. Remember how the doctor said I told him everything about you guys?"

"Um, yes I remember."

"Aaron Hotchner, Boss man. We all call him Hotch, though. He looks like he's all business, but that's just a mask that hides his emotions. Because he has a family—a son that he loves and a wife that he misses. He's grown up learning to hide his emotions, so that's how he deals. You would guess that he uses more hair gel than all three women combined, but it's actually all natural—I'm assuming. Hotch doesn't seem like the hair gel kind of guy. Very uptight and serious, but that's what makes him good at what he does. Best profiler out there. Hotch just has a way with people, something every profiler, cop, and person envies." Morgan grinned.

"Well, um, thanks, Derek. Really, thank you," Hotch said awkwardly.

"Anything for you, Boss," Morgan said sincerely. "Could you go get Prentiss?"

"Of course."

Hotch left and tapped Prentiss on the shoulder. Morgan chuckled when he saw her jump slightly. _Too uptight_, he thought.

Emily walked in.

"So, Miss Emily Prentiss, I am going to tell you something that is never to be repeated." Emily looked truly afraid. "I am going to tell you what I told Dr. Young about you." Her face relaxed noticeably. "Emily Prentiss, the beautiful brunette. Funny and nice, and by far the strongest person on the team. She can handle things, compartmentalize better than anyone else I've ever met. Emily is truly wonderful and cares so much about everybody. She can always connect with everyone and always puts the team above herself. She has some quirks, but that just makes her who she is. That makes her incredible. Emily Prentiss is the ideal FBI agent."

Emily frowned. "Quirks? Great." She sighed, then grinned."Just kidding. Thanks. Really, thank you."

Morgan nodded. "Now, go kick some criminal ass for me."

Emily laughed. "Anything for you."

Emily and Hotch left the hospital in silence. It stayed that way for nearly the whole ride up to Maryland, except for when Prentiss asked Hotch one thing: "Do I have any weird quirks?"

He just smiled and drove.

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"Did we miss anything?" Hotch asked as he and Prentiss reunited with the team at the local police department.

"Not much," Rossi admitted. "We were about to go talk to the friends and families of the victims. We did a little bit of profiling, though."

"And what did you come up with?" Prentiss asked.

"Well, who ever is asphyxiating the victims is a strong male, probably a senior there. The unsub who is beating the victims to death is probably not as strong, most likely a male sophomore or junior."

"The students are killing other students?" Emily gasped.

"Seems that way."

"Where are JJ and Daniel?" Hotch asked.

Reid answered, "Interviewing the other students on track."

* * *

"How well did you know Lauren?" Daniel was questioning Wendy, one of the victim's friends. She wasn't on the track team but she stayed after for gymnastics, so she knew most of the people on track as well.

"Best friends since second grade," Wendy said sadly. "She was the first murdered, and everyone thought that it was because of her spot on the cross-country team."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, we are freshman, and Lauren was on varsity. They actually knocked a junior _and_ a senior down to JV so that she could be on varsity. They were pretty pissed. But then Jake and the others were murdered, and we knew it was something more..."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Daniel said sincerely. "But we need to know...is there any other reason that somebody would want to hurt Lauren?"

"No! She was an all-around good person, everybody loved her. She even just got a boyfriend a week before she..." Wendy's words were lost in tears.

*

"How well did you know Jake?" JJ asked Peter, a sophomore on the track team.

"Really well," Peter said quietly. "He...um, we were--"

"You were best friends, I understand," JJ said reassuringly.

"Since fifth grade. Everyone thought we were brothers, even our parents." Peter smiled. "But really, my parents were convinced he was my long-lost brother or something."

JJ smiled sadly and nodded. "I'm so sorry for your loss, but can you think of any reason anybody would want to hurt Jake?"

Peter shook his head. "He had tons of friends, his sister is super-popular...I just can't believe somebody would do this to him. Or any of them."

"Did you know the other victims?"

"We all did. You can talk to anyone, everybody is friends with everybody on track. It's a little ridiculous, but once you start, this becomes your whole life." Peter eyed her warily. "So if you're thinking that it was somebody on the team...well, you're wrong. Because even if somebody was insane enough to touch them, they wouldn't have the time."

"Why would you say that?"

"I told you, this becomes your life--"

"No, not that. You said touch them, not hurt or kill them. Touch them."

"I...I did? Well, it doesn't mean anything."

"Do you know what I do for the FBI?" Peter shook his head. "I work for the BAU, or the behavioral analysis unit. We specialize in profiling how people think. Why would you say touch them?"

Peter looked around slowly.

"Who are you looking for, Peter? Are you afraid somebody is going to hear you? I can keep you safe, nobody will hurt you."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Peter admitted. His voice got lower. "I'm not supposed to tell, but Dani told me something a few weeks ago. She said that Mr. Sam, Coach's husband, touched her. She said not to tell anyone, that it was no big deal. The only reason she told me was because I accidentally ran into her during a race and she completely lost it."

JJ nodded. "Thank you. Could you just do me one more favor? Who is Dani?"

Peter pointed at a circle of about ten boys and girls stretching. "The brunette one, in the black tank top and pink-and-white running shorts." JJ nodded.

* * *

The rest of the team arrived shortly after Daniel and JJ interviewed the victims' friends. They spent the rest of the time talking about life in general, trying to get to know each other. JJ told Daniel about Will and Henry, and Daniel told JJ that even though he was never married, he does have a girlfriend named Susan.

"Hey, guys. Find anything?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, actually," JJ said. "One member of the track team, Dani, was molested by their coach's husband. We may want to question her about that. What about you guys? Anything we should know?"

"We got some of the profile down," Reid responded sharply.

"Like what?" JJ asked after a few seconds. Daniel stood still, confused by the strange back-and-forth between JJ and the rest of the team.

"Both unsubs are male, one older than the other. Unsub 1, the asphyxiating one, is probably a strong, physically fit senior--"

"How can you tell?" Daniel asked.

"One of them has to drive," Rossi answered simply.

"Couldn't a junior drive, thought?" Daniel asked.

"Well, most juniors can't legally drive another person."

"What about all of this makes you think these guys follow the law?" Daniel asked rhetorically.

"And the beating one, unsub 2," Reid continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "is most likely a junior or sophomore, not as strong."

"Do you think they are on track?" JJ asked.

Hotch shook his head. "Definitely not. Somebody on the track team would know them really well, and not kill so violently. Plus, they are dumped by the street like they are trash. That must mean something."

"I can gather the team and we can talk to them all at once?" JJ suggested.

"Yeah, go do that," Emily said.

Once the whole track team was sitting down on the field, the BAU got up and explained what was going on. "So," Hotch concluded, "do any of you know who would do this?"

"Not on track, you said?" One boy asked.

"Correct."

Everybody shook their heads slowly. "Okay, well if any of you think of _anything_,please don't hesitate to tell us. There will be one of us here at all times. You may go now."

As they left, most of the girls had tears in their eyes, as well as some of the boys.

"Uh, wait," JJ called out. "Could Dani please come here?"

"Me?" the girl Peter had pointed at turned around, curious.

"Yes please, we just need to talk for a minute." JJ saw one of Dani's friends rub her back and wave goodbye. Dani flinched away from the physical contact, and JJ realized that this friend didn't know about what had happened.

"Yeah, what's up?" she tried, and failed, to sound upbeat.

"Peter told us what happened."

JJ saw as her body stiffen as she put up walls to block out any emotions she didn't want to feel. "He wasn't supposed to tell."

"He needed to. It's a good thing, too. This man could be somehow involved in the murders."

"He's not," Dani said defiantly.

"How do you know that?"

"Because...because when he told me not to tell, he was holding a gun, but it looked like he was afraid of it. He wasn't pointing it straight at me, and he was holding it far away. Like he didn't want to hurt me."

JJ nodded. "I'm sorry. But do you know if he did this to anyone else?"

"As far as I know, it's just me."

"Thank you for your time."

Dani nodded and ran back into the locker room.

"Poor girl," JJ commented.

"Why poor her? There are people dying," Emily said.

"Yeah, well...I'm just saying." JJ said, tired of having to explain all of her thoughts.

Emily nodded. "I'm going to go arrest the coach's husband now."

* * *

"Hey, Doc," Morgan said as Dr. Young entered.

"Hello, Agent Morgan. How are you doing?"

"Please, call me Derek. And honestly, I'm getting really bored, stuck in here 24 / 7. Do you think I could, I don't know, get out of this room?"

"Sure, I don't see why not." Dr. Young shrugged. He helped Morgan into his wheelchair. "Do you need a push?"

"Naw, I think I got it," Derek said.

"Well okay, Mr. FBI," Dr. Young joked.

Morgan wheeled himself out of the hospital room and into the hallway. He took a deep breath, glad to be out of that room. "Could I meet my neighbors?"

Dr. Young bit his lip. "We usually don't allow that..."

"Aw, come on, man. I won't do anything bad."

"All right, come on," Dr. Young said as he directed him next door. He opened the door slowly. "Priscilla? Hello, this is Derek Morgan. He is staying in the room next to you."

Priscilla sat up in bed. Her long, black hair was a mess, although Derek could tell she was a beautiful woman. She looked a few years younger than him, but not much. "Hey there, Priscilla," Derek said, wheeling up to her slowly.

"Hello. How did you land yourself in that chair?"

"That's a long story. What's yours?"

"Third round of cancer." Priscilla said. It almost sounded scripted, Morgan noticed. "So what are you doing in here? Nobody usually visits."

"Well, I'm not used to sitting still in bed all day. I've got to move around."

"Yeah? What do you do for a living?"

"I'm FBI," Morgan said. "That's how my accident happened. I was giving a press conference, and it got a little out of hand."

Priscilla gasped. "I'll say. I'm so sorry! But FBI, wow. That's so cool! Do you know how long you're in the chair for?"

They made small talk for a little. Doctor Young stood outside and eavesdropped, curious about what Derek was saying to the kind stranger.

"You know," Priscilla said, "you're one of the first visitors I've ever gotten. I don't have much family, and I never had many friends outside of the hospital. It's nice, getting a visitor. I hope you can come by again?"

"It would be a pleasure."

Dr. Young smiled as he walked away. Derek was really getting along with Priscilla; she was happier than he'd seen her in weeks. Maybe he should visit some of the other patients as well...

**Sorry for all of the medical / hospital mistakes...don't know much about that stuff.**

**By the way, I _just_ finished my other story, which means quicker updates on this one! Yay :)**


	13. Chapter 13

"There's still one thing bothering me," Emily admitted after shoving Mr. Sam into the police car for interrogation as the officer drove him away.

"What's that?" Reid asked.

"Why dump them by the street? I mean, that must be something huge for the profile, and we can't figure it out."

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that too," Rossi said.

"Well, it's probably unsub one. He's the leader, the strong one," Reid noted. "So it's probably his idea."

"Okay," Daniel said. "I'm unsub one. I just strangled my victim in broad daylight, and then risk carrying them off to the side of the street, where everyone can see? Something's not right. The street must have some huge significance, and we're missing it."

Everyone stared in shock.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Daniel asked, searching the teams' faces.

"No," Hotch muttered. "That's something Morgan used to do—put himself in the unsub's shoes."

"Oh," Daniel nodded in understanding. "Sorry."

"No, don't be. Somebody has to do it."

"Right. Anyways, there's something important about the street."

Hotch looked at his watch. "It's six o'clock now; track team just left. Tomorrow, I want Rossi, Prentiss, and Daniel to stay here and make sure nobody gets hurt. Reid and I will work on the profile."

"What about--" JJ began.

"Right now, I want everyone to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be busy."

"Wait, what about me?" JJ asked.

"What?"

"You—you forgot about where I was supposed to go."

"Oh. Um, you can stay here with Rossi and Daniel, then I guess Emily will work on the profile with us. Any other interruptions?" Hotch asked rudely. JJ flinched slightly. "No? Okay, good night everyone."

Prentiss walked up to Daniel. "You need a ride to the hotel?"

"No, thanks, I'm actually going to be staying at my house. It's only about fifteen minutes from here." Emily laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that this place is in the middle of nowhere. I don't know how you could live here."

Daniel chuckled as well. "Tell me about it. I guess it's just something you get used to. Well, I'm going now. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," Emily waved, intrigued by the new agent. He got along so well with everyone, and he was just so likable. But there was something about him, something almost secretive, like he was only telling people what they wanted to see. Emily wondered what happened to make him so closed off.

* * *

Morgan was laughing with Priscilla about some story she had told him when Dr. Young walked in.

"What can I do for you, Doc?" Morgan asked.

"Honestly, I think you're working some magic here. The gorgeous Miss Priscilla here--" she blushed at the compliment-- "is doing so well, that I was wondering if you would want to talk to some of the other patients. You know, cheer them up."

"Sure thing, man. Who's the next lucky one?"

"There's a young Mr. Billy right across the hall if you wouldn't mind. He's been really down in the dumps since he arrived, but is definitely happier when somebody is there with him."

"You got it." Morgan turned to Priscilla. "See you tomorrow?"

"I'm not moving," she promised with a laugh. He smiled back and wheeled himself out of her room, following Dr. Young into Billy's room.

"There's one thing you should know about this one," Dr. Young warned. "He insists on being called _Mister_ Billy. Nothing else is good enough."

"Okay, why is that a prob--" Morgan began, but stopped himself when Dr. Young opened the door to reveal a boy, no more than seven or eight years old, lying in bed. "Oh." He rolled over to the little boy, who was lying with his face looking defiantly at the ceiling.

"Well hello, Mr. Billy. How are you doing today?" Morgan asked, playing along with the kid's wishes.

"Hmph" was the only response he got. Morgan looked up questioningly at Dr. Young, who whispered, "He needs to have his tonsils removed tomorrow and refuses to let us touch him. Any way you could talk to him?"

"No problem," Morgan muttered before turning back to the little boy. "It's really nice here, don't you think? Dr. Young over here even let me get a piece of chocolate cake after lunch today. It was really yummy."

Billy looked over at Derek. "Mommy made me chocolate cake for my birthday last month."

"Really? My mommy used to make me cake on my birthday, too. Although I always liked vanilla better." Billy scrunched up his face. "What? You don't like vanilla?"

He shook his head. "Uh-uh. My sister likes vanilla, I don't."

"How old is your sister?"

"She is turning fifteen next week."

"So is your mommy going to make her vanilla cake for her birthday?" Billy shrugged. "I guess you really look up to your sister, huh?" Morgan asked. Billy nodded vigorously. "Has she ever gotten surgery before?"

He shook his head slowly. "No. That's why I don't want to. Lindsay tries everything before me so nothing happens to me."

Morgan smiled. "But this is something you get to do that Lindsay doesn't! You're a brave kid, I know you can do this. Show Lindsay how strong you are! I bet she'll be proud of you."

Billy smiled widely. "You think so?"

"Oh, I know so."

Dr. Young smiled and said, "Billy, I'm afraid Agent Morgan has to--"

"_Agent_?" Billy exclaimed.

"Yep, I work for the FBI."

"Whoa! Do you get to carry a gun? Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Yes and yes," Morgan said seriously, "but I'm not proud of either."

"Is that why you can't walk? Did something happen when you were working? What happened?"

Morgan looked up at Billy, who felt suddenly intimidated. He shied away, letting his pillow and bed nearly swallow him. "My friend got sick, so when I had to do her job, a bad guy hurt me. Don't worry about me, though; my friend is the one who's hurt."

"Did she die?" Billy pushed.

"No, thankfully not. But she is very sad now."

"Oh," Billy said, clearly bored by the end of the story.

"Agent Morgan has to leave now," Dr. Young muttered.

"Bye-bye, FBI! Hey, that rhymes!" Billy giggled.

"Yeah, kid, it does," Morgan smiled at him before Dr. Young pulled him out of the room. "Nicely done, Derek."

Morgan shrugged. "It comes with the job. I just read people, and a kid his age wants to show up his big sis at any chance he gets, and he does that by being strong. If you just tell him what he want to hear, you can get him to do about anything."

* * *

JJ let out a sigh of relief when she finally arrived at her hotel room. After a whole day of endless bantering from the team, all she needed was some time to herself.

She was tired and couldn't wait to go to bed, so she took a quick shower and didn't even bother calling Will: she knew that if anything important came up, he would call her. She also knew that he would understand that she wanted some time to herself.

At first she planned on going straight to sleep but found that she couldn't stop thinking about poor Dani. Even though there were two serial killers at the same school, targeting the same sports team, she found herself feeling sorry for the girl. Maybe because while the others had died, she had to live through all of this? Maybe because she not only got molested by somebody she was close to, but she also had to deal with her friends dying right before her eyes?

JJ didn't know why her sympathy was drawn towards the living teenager instead of the five dead ones.

Dani was surrounded by tons of people she was close to, all of whom were focusing on the kids who had been murdered. She was always with her friends who were oblivious to her pain. She was suffering, but she couldn't let it show because then she would come off as selfish and childish. She couldn't let other people see how she hurt because the attention was meant to be somewhere else.

Suddenly, JJ knew why she felt for this girl: it was because she could relate. They were both lost, drowning in a sea of misery and sadness, while everyone around them was ignoring their hurt and concentrating on everybody else.

They were both invisible.

JJ let out an involuntary shiver. She decided that it was time to stop thinking like this and take a rest.

But as she lay in the hotel bed, sleep wouldn't come. She tried everything, from counting sheep to slow breathing, but no matter what she did and how tired she was, she could not sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, all six team members came to mind.

No, seven.

Because every time she thought about the team, she thought about Daniel as well. That frightened her, because Daniel was definitely _not_ part of the team. Even though he was friendly and nice, she couldn't believe that the team had taken a liking to him so fast. When Prentiss had joined, everybody seemed wary of her and tried to pretend like she wasn't there, interfering with everything they were doing. Hell, even Rossi, one of the creators of the BAU had a hard time fitting in!

But everybody seemed to like Daniel. He fit in perfectly—a little too well, JJ thought.

But JJ saw him differently. He was cocky and arrogant, and even though the team couldn't tell, he was trying way too hard to fit in. Even though _they_ were the profilers and _she_ was the media liaison, she was the one who was unintentionally profiling the new member.

Maybe because they were afraid of what they would find.

Because there was definitely something off with him. He was just too...it hurt her to think this, but he was too perfect. He got along with everybody, almost like he _needed_ them to like him, to trust him. Now all she had to do was figure out why...

JJ sighed. This was not her job, to try and isolate the new member of the team. She should just give him a chance, she decided. Each and every person on the team had skeletons in their closet, and it was only a matter of time before they found his.

What she didn't know is how soon it would be.

* * *

As soon as Daniel arrived home, he went straight into his home office. Even though he knew he should be getting sleep for the next eventful day, there was something he needed to do first.

He picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number.

"_Hey, how's it going at he BAU, dork?"_

"Shut up," Daniel laughed at his best friend. "Besides, Tim, I'm not the one working with all that biology shit."

"_Hey, you're friend working with the 'biology shit' is getting you the stuff you need."_

"Hey man, you make it sound like I'm on drugs or something."

"_Yeah, something. So did you do everything I told you so far?"_

"Yep. What else should I do?" Daniel asked, sitting down at his desk. He rummaged through his pencil case until he found what he was looking for: a key. He unlocked a drawer in his desk and opened it to reveal a bag with a thin, white powder.

"_Well, first you have to find something to put it in. Then you wait for me to send you the rest of the stuff, and then you just have to choose who gets it."_

"Done and done," he said, fiddling with a tiny glass ball. All he would have to do was drill a small hole in the side, insert the powder, and put some sort of stopper in to keep the hole shut. "How long's the wait?"

"_I'll have it there tonight if I can help it. Who is it? Tell me about them."_

"She--"

"_She? You're giving this to a girl? Man, I don't know. This isn't what I signed up for."_

"**You** aren't doing anything; this is all me, remember? Besides, I didn't chose her; she chose me."

"_You sound like a philosopher or something."_

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah, well it's true. As soon as I saw her, I knew." He took a deep breath. "She actually works for the FBI. She's a real beauty, I tell ya."

Tim let out a low whistle. _"Damn, a girl __**and**__ FBI? You're hard core, dude._"

"She's the one. She's got this amazing long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Plus, she just has something about her that makes everyone listen to what she says."

"_So why her?"_

"I just have this feeling...that she won't be missed."

There was a pause while Tim nodded to himself. _"I'll drop the stuff off in an hour._"

Daniel hung up. Tomorrow was the big day, the day he had been waiting for. The reason he signed up for the FBI.

He barely slept that night.

**I hope that makes sense. Just to clarify, Daniel's friend works in some biology lab, and he is delivering a specific specimen to Daniel's house that night. Daniel is going to use this specimen for...well, keep reading!**

**Hope you liked it! Please tell me what you thought**

**I know I said faster updates, but...well, I lied. Sorry.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Wow, thanks a million for all the _incredible_ reviews! I'm doing my best to update fast, I promise, but life is getting in the way. Aka, I hate homework with a burning passion.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

**PS—to all you that wanted something to happen to JJ, are you happy? XD hope so!**

"I'm so sorry," Priscilla whispered. She and Derek had gotten so close over the last few days, and Dr. Young was glad that he finally had somebody that he could talk to. "So, he just shot you? For no reason?"

Morgan shook his head. "He had a reason, but only he understands it. It's how these guys think that make them the way they are, and something in his mind was twisted and gave him a reason to shoot me."

"I'm so sorry," she repeated for lack of anything better to say. "How is your partner? JJ, right?"

"Yeah, JJ. She's...well, honestly, I don't know. I haven't really spoken to her since." Priscilla's eyes widened and Derek realized his mistake. "No, no—I'm not mad at her; quite the opposite. They're working a case right now, so they've been busy. I haven't really had the chance to talk to her."

"Have you spoken with your other team members?" Derek nodded. "Then why haven't you spoken with her?"

Morgan sighed. "Knowing her, she can't stand to see me. She blames herself for what happened. She sets too high of a standard, and doesn't understand that she can't help that she was sick. She believes it's her fault and if she sees me, she thinks I will think the same thing."

"But it's not true," Priscilla protested.

"I know. It's just that JJ--"

"Why are you talking about her?" A familiar voice said from the doorway.

"Hey kid," Morgan smiled at Reid. "You here all by yourself?"

"Yes. Why were you talking about JJ? You know that you can't linger on that. You have to move on."

"I didn't--"

"How are you doing?"

Morgan sighed. "I'm fine, kid. Is that why you came here, to check up on me?" Reid nodded. "Did Hotch send you?" Slowly, Reid nodded again.

Morgan groaned. "Well you can tell him that I am perfectly fine."

"Um, not meaning to intrude, but who is this?" Priscilla muttered.

Morgan smiled up at her. "Guess."

"Hmm..." she stared at Reid for a moment. "Well, he's a kid, talks way to fast, has hair longer than the FBI should allow...Dr. Spencer Reid?"

"What did you tell her about me?" Reid asked.

Morgan glanced up at Priscilla, who said, "Go ahead. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you," Morgan said as he began to wheel himself out. Reid walked behind him and began pushing, but Morgan stopped him. "I got it, Reid. I can do it. I'm fine, really."

"I know."

"So why are you here?"

"Hotch sent me, I told you. So what did you tell her? And who is she? And do you really think my hair is--"

"Whoa, slow down there. Don't hurt yourself. She is Priscilla, she is a cancer patient. And I told her the same thing I told Dr. Young."

Spencer stared down at Morgan for a moment as they arrived in his room. "I have an eidetic memory, and I can't recall you telling me what you said to him. You never told me."

"Spencer Reid,--"

"Yes?"

"Let me continue," Morgan laughed. "Spencer Reid. He is just a kid, but is actually the smartest person I know. Socially awkward, sure, a bit of a dork, definitely, but also like a little brother to me. Ask any question, this boy has the answer. He may not look like FBI, but he knows everything there is for an FBI agent to know, plus more. Spencer Reid, the brain of the bureau."

Reid was silently staring at his coworker.

"Oh my gosh, are you actually speechless?"

Reid shook his head. "It is impossible to be speechless, because once you have learned to talk there is no way to unlearn it. It is, however, possible to not be able to think of the right thing to say, which is how I'm feeling right now."

Morgan smiled. "Your welcome."

"What time is it?" Reid asked for the umpteenth time. After Morgan told him about what he told the doctor, Reid filled him in on the case and then left.

"Well, the last time you asked it was 1:59, so now it is..." Hotch checked his watch. "2:00. School ends in ten minutes; that's when Rossi, Daniel, and Jennifer go to the school so they can get there in time for track."

Reid nodded eagerly. "So let's go over what we know."

"Again," Emily added with a groan.

"Yep."

Once again, they went over the profile. Nothing had changed from the previous day; it was just something to discuss. The BAU, Daniel realized with a tiny smile, was very bad at making small talk.

"Okay, it's 2:10," Rossi said, standing up suddenly. "JJ, Daniel, you're with me."

"Got it," Daniel said as he and JJ followed Rossi out the door and into the SUV.

"Do we really want to take this van?" Daniel asked. "Don't we want to, I don't know, blend in?"

"That's actually the opposite of what we want to do," Rossi explained as he drove away. "You see, these killers, no matter how violent and brutal, are really just kids. If they see an FBI van and a bunch of agents, they probably won't be hurting anyone while we're here."

"And while we're not?"

JJ noticed the car speed up ever so slightly. The rest of the ride was in silence.

As they got out of the car and walked towards the back of the school, JJ recognized Dani sitting uncomfortably on the bench, fidgeting and running her hands through her ponytail.

"Hey, I'll be right with you," JJ muttered to Rossi as she made her way to the girl.

"Everything okay?" JJ asked, feeling guilty when Dani jumped slightly at the unexpected voice.

"No," she whispered, "no, everything is _not _okay! I didn't press charges for a reason, and then you go and do it? I don't need everybody knowing, and I don't want everybody's pity! And I sure as hell didn't want Coach to quit!"

"Dani, this man hurt and violated you. He will get what he deserves."

"Yeah, well what about the rest of us? What about me?"

"What do you mean?" JJ asked, perplexed as she sat down next to Dani. To her surprise, she didn't get up or even move away; JJ realized that she wasn't actually blaming her, just venting. And she let her.

"I mean," she took a deep breath, trying to hold back unwanted tears, "that because of what _you_ did, Coach quit. We have lost seven people, plus our coach, all thanks to you. And now everyone knows that something happened, and they keep asking me who Mr. Sam m-m-" she sighed in defeat. "Who Mr. Sam hurt, and I can't say anything! Why did you do this to me?"

She was crying by the end, and JJ took her head and rested it on her shoulder, going over everything she had just said.

But something wasn't right.

"Seven people?" she asked quietly as soon as Dani had calmed down.

"Huh?"

"You said you lost seven people, when only five were killed."

"N-no I didn't."

"Yes, Dani, you did."

"No!" She stood up violently, nearly knocking over the bench. JJ grabbed on to the armrest, shocked for a moment. "No, just leave me alone! Please, just leave!" But before JJ could say anything, she ran away into the locker room, where several curious girls were exiting. They looked at Dani for a moment before deciding unanimously to approach JJ and ask what happened.

"Could you gather the track team and have them meet here in ten?"

One girl looked at the others, confused before answering, "Uh...sure?"

"Thanks."

"Wait! What is this about?" she asked before JJ could leave.

"Well, uh..."

"Lauren."

"Well, Lauren, you are going to find out at the same time as everyone else. Ten minutes sharp." JJ walked away quickly, leaving Lauren and her friends giving her nasty looks behind her back. But JJ couldn't care less.

She was used to that by now.

* * *

"Wait, but--"

"Daniel and I will watch the front, JJ around back." Rossi demanded.

"But we--"

"If you see _anything_ out of the ordinary, call it in."

"Two minutes!" JJ finally got a word in.

"Until?"

"I'm talking to the team about something. Then I'll keep watch, but this is important."

Rossi sighed. "Okay, but make it quick."

JJ debated resisting, explaining to him how important this was, but decided against it. It wouldn't do any good to argue.

"Okay," she muttered instead, walking around back to the bleachers where the track team was going to meet her. She turned around and saw Daniel whisper something to Rossi, who laughed until he caught JJ's eye. Then he looked around awkwardly and made his way to the front of the building where he was going to keep watch.

By the time JJ got there, the team was already sitting impatiently. Some were on the bleachers, and others were stretching on the ground.

"Shh, shh," she hushed until everybody quieted down. "As all of you know, one of your teammates has been touched inappropriately by your coach's husband." She deliberately avoided eye contact with Dani. "I am not at liberty to say who this is, but if this has happened to _anybody_ else, I encourage you to come talk to me. A man like Mr. Sam cannot just hurt one girl and be done; he needs to have multiple people to feed his obsession." She saw several people physically flinch when she said this, but that was the point; scare them into giving in. "If at least one more person comes forward, I promise that us at the FBI can provide protection and it will help your teammate, your friend, get justice."

JJ paused and looked around at the team. Everybody looked extremely uncomfortable, like she was entering some forbidden area. Like they just didn't want to talk about it.

"On a different note, I have been talking anonymously with somebody else on track. They told me that before the murders happened, you lost two more people on the team." This wasn't true; Lauren had never said that it was before the murders, but she was just guessing. She hoped that if she was right, somebody would tell her what happened. She was bluffing, but she was good. "If somebody could tell me what happened, it would be much appreciated."

There was a long silence before one boy yelled out, "It doesn't matter! Mind your own business."

"It does matter," JJ corrected. "It may be relevant. Please, just tell me quickly what happened and you can go back to practicing." When nobody answered, she said, "We are helping you, I promise. We are here to make sure nobody else gets hurt or killed. I know you guys have had a rough year, but if you tell me what happened, this can all be over."

"Jeffery and Casey," one girl said.

"Missy!" another scolded.

"What?" the one named Missy asked. "Don't you want this to end? It's no big deal, she'll find out eventually."

Murmurs of agreement ran through the crowd.

"Jeffery was on the team, but he and his girlfriend Leah got arrested."

"For what?" JJ asked.

"Drunk driving and reckless homicide," a boy answered quietly. "They were coming back from a party, and on track, the number one rule is no drinking or drugs. Anyways, it was their first time and Jeffery was driving Leah home when, BAM!--" he clapped his hands loudly, "they crashed. They killed one niner, Luke, and got arrested for it."

"But Leah wasn't on the team?" JJ asked.

"Nope, just Jeffery. But Casey—he was one of Luke's older brothers—quit also, for obvious reasons."

JJ nodded. "Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it, and I'm sure your teammates would as well."

Slowly, one by one, they all got up and went over to the track while JJ walked away to the back, thinking about what they said.

She watched each person, trying to see a reason somebody would want to kill them. They seemed like good people, and she couldn't think of any reason anybody would want to hurt them.

A strong wind suddenly passed, causing her to shiver slightly and cough. She was upset, angry even, that she was _still _suffering from her cold from a few days ago. She usually never got sick, but this time she did and just wasn't getting better. She made a mental note to go to the doctor's as soon as the case was over.

JJ jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Dani giggled. "Sorry, Agent Jareau. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't worry about it. Is everything okay?" She checked her watch—practice had been over for about ten minutes now.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to say thanks, for everything. For talking to me, and for arresting him. I'm so sorry for being so stubborn and rude, I just...I don't know, I guess I, like, panicked or something."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," JJ said sternly.

"Yeah, well, thanks."

JJ smiled. "It's the job," she said with a shrug.

"No, it's more than the job. You've really helped me. I think I'm going to talk to somebody tomorrow, and tell my parents when I get home. You've really helped me through this. Through everything."

JJ's smiled faded. Through everything...through the abuse, the murders, and the drunk driving.

Drunk driving...

"Dani, I have a quick question."

"Shoot."

"Jeffery and Leah accidentally killed Luke, Casey's younger brother. Right?"

"Yeah," Dani said, a little confused.

"Did Casey have any other younger brothers?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"How old are Casey and his brother?"

"Casey is a senior, and his brother William is a sophomore. Why?"

JJ hesitated before answering quietly, "Because having your brother killed in an automobile accident is reason to dump a body by the street."

She walked away quickly, nearly running to catch up with Daniel and Rossi before they left.

"Did something happen?" Rossi asked as he saw JJ speeding over to him. "You know that's what the walky-takly's are for, right?"

"I had a breakthrough," JJ said. "I think I know who the killers are."

Reluctantly, Rossi sighed and walked over to where JJ was standing. He wanted nothing more than to leave, but the case took priority.

"Casey and William..." JJ's voice trailed off when she realized that she didn't know the unsubs' last name. "Casey was on the track team, but quit when his brother Luke was killed by a drunk driver on track. They match the profile to a tee, and it's a reason to dump them by the street."

Rossi nodded. "I think you're right. Call Hotch, Daniel and I will talk to the principal about them."

JJ nodded and pulled out her cell phone, dialing Hotch's familiar number.

Daniel and Rossi walked away. They were at the door of the school when Daniel slapped a hand to his head. "Oh, I forgot my phone in the car. I'll be right back?"

"Okay, go get it. Hurry up."

"Of course," he promised. He turned around and saw JJ talking on her phone, facing away from him and to the car in front of her. He saw the perfect opportunity and put on a pair of latex gloves before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the thin glass ball which now had the fine, white powder stored inside.

"_So what exactly is it?" Daniel had asked when Tim dropped the substance off at his house in the middle of the night._

"_A modified version of anthrax." Tim responded, handing him the last of the ingredients to make the substance. "Not enough to kill, but definitely enough to harm. Just what you asked for. Now, why don't you want it lethal? I mean, you're already going after a chic in FBI, do you really want her to be able to identify you?"_

"_She won't see me. I just want to send the message."_

_Tim nodded like he understood._

_He didn't._

"Yes, Casey and William. I don't know there last name, though," JJ said into her phone before pausing. She was staring at her reflection in the car window when she saw Daniel standing at a distance behind her. His hand was fiddling with something she couldn't see, but his eyes had a burning anger in them.

"_JJ?"_

"One sec," she muttered to Hotch.

She turned around suddenly, and Daniel did the only thing he could think of: he threw the glass ball with all his strength. He turned around and started running so as not to inhale the powder, but stayed long enough to hear it shatter on the car.

JJ involuntarily gasped when the object was thrown at her and ducked out of the way. Unfortunately, it broke on the car and the powder was released. At first she was in too much shock to do anything, but Hotch's voice over the phone pulled her out of her state.

"_JJ? What's going on?"_

"I--" she started to say, but immediately began choking on...something?

"_JJ? You okay?"_ He sounded genuinely concerned, but she couldn't talk. She couldn't breathe. She just kept coughing.

She fell to the ground, her phone still open and her boss's worried voice still begging for her to respond, to say she was okay.

She wasn't.

**Just wanted to get this chapter up, so I didn't re-read it a million and a half times. Again, sorry for the delay! I'm trying, I promise. Hope you liked it!**


	15. Chapter 15

"My physical therapy starts in two weeks," Morgan said to Priscilla.

"Really? Good luck!"

"Thanks. So, tell me about you." After all these long and personal conversations, Morgan had told Priscilla all about his job and his family. However, she had never revealed anything about herself.

Priscilla sighed. "Well, I have an older sister, but I haven't seen her in a few years."

"Why not? She hasn't come to visit you?" Morgan asked, incredulous. How could somebody not come visit their sister when she was in the hospital with cancer? Especially when that person was as amazing as Priscilla?

"No. I—um, she doesn't know."

"...what?"

"I didn't want to tell her. She doesn't need to worry about me; she has a husband and two kids. I'm the last thing she has to think about."

"Priscilla, you--"

"Don't tell me how to think or what to do. I made up my mind a long time ago, and nothing you say is about to change that."

"Girl, you have to tell her. You can't live in hiding of your own sister! If she knew, I'm sure she would be there for you. What's her name?"

"Casey," Priscilla answered with a smile. Morgan could see that she was very proud of her sister and looked up to her.

"Casey has to know."

"Derek, don't tell me--"

"Why else would you mention her?" Priscilla was silent, so Morgan continued. "You had no reason to tell me about her unless you wanted me to convince you to talk to her. Just call her up, check in on her, tell her about your condition. It will help, I promise."

* * *

"JJ? You okay?" Hotch asked. He was a little worried, but JJ was honestly getting on his nerves. He knew it wasn't on purpose, but because of JJ one of his agents was in the hospital. Because of JJ, one of his agents may not ever be able to work again...

But JJ kept coughing. "JJ, are you--"

"Hotch?" It was Reid, coming in holding a carelessly folded map in one hand and a pen in the other. Hotch realized that he had been doing some geographical profiling. "Everything okay?"

The coughing had stopped. He pulled the phone away and hung up, a little confused, as he answered, "Uh, yeah everything's fine. Did you get anything?"

"Yeah. I don't know why we didn't think of this earlier! Probably because of Morgan's--" Reid cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, I shaded in the part of the map within the county school line radius for Sherwood High School--"

"Reid?"

The young agent opened up the map. The pointed at a roughly drawn circle surrounding the school. "Teenagers who live within this circle attend Sherwood."

"See if there are two siblings, Casey and William who go there. I think they are our unsubs."

Reid nodded and bolted away, out to make some phone calls.

* * *

Dani groaned, hanging up her phone. Her mother still wasn't answering; she probably forgot to pick her up from practice. Looking around, she saw a black SUV parked by the sidewalk. She jogged over. "Agent Jareau? I was wondering--" She stopped short when she saw JJ in a heap on the ground, by the van. "Agent Jareau? Agent Jareau!" She nearly screamed.

She ran over as fast as she could, bending down to find the agent's pulse. _Good_, she thought frantically once she found the uneven beating, _I don't have to do CPR or anything._ Whipping out her cell phone, she dialed 911.

"_911, what's your emergency?"_

"Help! Agent Jareau...she just collapsed..."

"_I'm sorry, did you say Agent Jareau?"_

"Yes, yes! Agent Jareau! Please, help me!" Dani was nearly crying now; how could this have happened?

"_Where are you calling from, Miss?"_

In between desperate pants, Dani managed to give the 911 operator the address.

She hung up immediately, crouching down next to JJ. Her breaths were shallow and uneven and she still wasn't moving. Dani slapped her face lightly in attempt to wake her up.

It didn't work.

Dani bit her lip hard as she tried to think back to what she had learned in health class. _Put your hand over the mouth to check for breathing_. It was light and shallow, but it was there. Desperately, she tilted JJ's head back to allow more air to enter her lungs, but she was afraid to move her too far because she wasn't sure exactly what happened. She saw no cuts or marks of any kind on her, so an attack was out of the question.

Dani was so focused on making sure JJ was alright that she didn't even realize when the paramedics made their way over to the student and agent. When one of them tapped her on the shoulder, she screamed.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here to help." The medic held her hands up as if to prove her innocence. After quickly looking her over, Dani nodded her head. "I need you to step away please."

Dani obeyed.

"My name is Doctor Smith. Do you know what happened?"

She shook her head.

"Are you okay, Miss?"

"Yeah," Dani croaked, then cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did you see what happened?"

"No! No, I just came over to see if Agent Jareau could give me a ride home, and I found her like this. Please, help her!" Dani pleaded.

"We'll do the best we can," the paramedic promised as she and two others lifted JJ onto a stretcher and attached her to a few different machines.

"Can I come?" Dani asked.

"Yes, but hurry up," she urged. Dani nodded and jumped into the back of the ambulance, flinching slightly when the loud sirens began blaring.

"Is she breathing?"

"Yes, but barely."

"Will she be okay?"

"Be quiet!" Dr. Smith yelled. "I'm sorry, but I really need to concentrate."

Dani nodded sharply as she backed away from JJ slightly to give room for the paramedics. She saw JJ's face twitch every so often, but was too afraid of what the answer might be to ask what it meant.

Suddenly, JJ eyes popped open. She gave one huge gasp for air, then began coughing uncontrollably.

"Agent Jareau...Agent Jareau! Look at me, I need you to look at me," Dr. Smith ordered.

Still choking, JJ glanced up at the paramedic. The panic was evident in her eyes, her fear showing through even her 'media mask', as she used to call it jokingly. She recognized Dani out of the corner of her eye, silently cursing the fact that a kid had to see this happen to her.

It was then she realized:_ she couldn't breathe._

It was like something was filling her lungs, not allowing any air to get in. She kept trying to cough it out, but it wasn't working. She couldn't stop coughing.

The unsteady beeping became an even blare before anyone realized what was happening. The coughing stopped, but JJ felt a tightening in her chest that was overwhelming. She tried to gasp in some air, but it didn't help. She fell onto her back, still panting and choking.

"What does that mean? What does it mean?!" Dani finally blurted out.

"Move out of the way!" another paramedic demanded.

"What's going on?" Dani screamed desperately.

"She's flat-lining. Get me the paddles!" Dr. Smith ordered, as the first paramedic handed her a pair of paddles, which she rubbed a slimy gel on to.

"What's happening?!"

Dr. Smith placed the paddles on JJ's chest. "She's not breathing," she answered quickly before returning to her job.

"_Clear!"_

**I seem to have this flat-lining-in-the-ambulance scene a lot haha. Oh, well. **

**Please tell me what you think! I know updates are slow, and I'm sorry. This chapter isn't so strong, but I felt the need to update ASAP, so here you go!**

**PS—to y'all waiting for an update on my other story (when life gives you lemons...), just wanted to say sorry for the ridiculous wait, but this story is priority. I'm still working on it, just even more slowly....**


	16. Chapter 16

**Wow, I didn't even realize that I put two Casey's in this story. They are NOT AT ALL related, just fyi. I guess I just like the name..? so mazel tov to anyone named Casey, cuz apparently I love your name :)**

**SOSOSOSOSOSO sorry for the insane delay. My life is currently very hectic. I'm trying my best, and I hope this is worth it!!**

"I called Casey," Priscilla admitted with a sigh. "She was angry at first, but she's coming down tomorrow to visit."

"Good for you, girl," Morgan smiled. "I'm glad you are reuniting with your sister."

"Yeah, I just wish it was under different circumstances."

Morgan bit his lip and looked away, lost in thought about all the times he had used that phrase. _Nice to meet you, Detective, although I wish it was under different circumstances..._

He couldn't help it. He felt like a marathon runner who was no longer allowed to walk, because he was an FBI agent no longer allowed to work. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was going through work withdraw. But he did know better, and he knew to try to overlook it, because this would last for a while.

"Derek? Agent Morgan? Derek!"

"Hmm?" Morgan looked up at Doctor Young, who was standing over him. Priscilla was behind him, eyes wide with fear and worry. "Oh, sorry Doc," Morgan said quietly, "just got lost in thought. I'm fine, I swear."

"I hope you are, because there's a man next door who could use some cheering up."

Morgan smiled. "Is he any like that Mr. Billy? He was a good kid."

Dr. Young smirked as he wheeled Morgan out of the room. "Not exactly."

Morgan stared at his face, analyzing him before responding, "What do you mean? There's something you're not saying; what are you not telling me?"

After a brief hesitation, Dr. Young decided to answer. "He is ninety-three years old."

Dr. Young pushed an open-mouthed Morgan into the room next door.

* * *

"We got them," Reid informed as he and Rossi returned to the team. "We found and arrested Casey and William."

Hotch gave one of his rare smiles. "Great job, guys." Checking his watch, he added, "We can stay the night then drive back tomorrow. That okay with everyone?"

"Definitely," Emily agreed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna find me a good bar. Anyone up for a drink?" Rossi asked.

Daniel laughed carelessly, as though there was nothing on his mind. No dark, sinister thoughts keeping him from growing close with the team. "Please. This is Olney; there are no bars here."

"I bet we can find one," Emily offered. "Hey, where's JJ?"

"Yeah, where is she?" Reid echoed. Then, to Hotch, "Have you seen her since you spoke with her on the phone?"

"Actually, no. Has anyone else seen her recently?"

After the team shook their heads slowly, Daniel spoke up, "Oh, I, uh, I saw her a few hours ago. She said she was going back to the hotel—she, uh, she didn't look too good."

Although he was talking to a team of FBI profilers, they didn't seem to detect his discomfort, his lies.

"Hmm," Hotch dismissed. "Probably still sick. Not good to drink when you're sick. So who else is up for the bar?"

* * *

"Dani! Danielle," a familiar voice called for the teen.

"Mom," Dani nearly groaned. "What happened, did you forget about me again?"

"What? No, sweetie, I didn't forget. I just...I just got distracted, that's all. Now, will you please explain to me why the doctor had to call to say that my baby girl was in the hospital? I nearly had a heart attack!"

_Yeah, you seem really freaked,_ Dani thought before responding, "You know what was happening to the kids on the team? Well, the FBI came to investigate. One of the agents, Jennifer Jareau (she's really nice), was on the ground and not breathing. I had to call the ambulance."

Her mother's stiff face fell into a frown. "So I drove all the way here to check on a police officer I don't even know?"

"FBI agent," Dani corrected, "and no, mom, you drove all the way here to pick me up. You know, because you never came to school."

"Come on, let's go," Dani's mother grabbed her arm roughly.

The memories flooded back instantly. Being roughly grabbed, forced against her will to...Dani began screaming, "No! No, let go of me! Don't...touch...me!"

It earned a few stares from doctors and nurses who happened to be passing by.

"What was that?" she hissed in her daughter's ear. "Why did you scream at me?"

Dani took a deep breath. "Mom, I...I was raped." It was so much easier to say now, Dani realized, after talking to JJ.

"Lies!" She spat. "Don't lie to me!"

She was taken aback. Her mother didn't win the best parent award,but couldn't she at least listen? "Mom, I'm not--"

"Family of Jennifer Jareau?" A man in a white lab coat came out and announced loudly.

"Yes? Yes, that's me!"

Dani's mom immediately let go of her arm in shock.

"Miss Jareau--"

"Agent," Dani corrected. "Agent Jareau."

The doctor nodded and continued, "Agent Jareau has been poisoned by a substance yet to be identified. She is having trouble breathing and she is in a lot of pain, but we have morphine pumping through her right now."

"Can I see her?"

"I'm sorry, Miss, but she hasn't woken up yet."

"She hasn't?" Dani whispered. "But isn't that, like, really bad? I mean, can't she get brain damage or something for being out for so long?"

Dani's mother tapped her daughter's shoulder. "Dani, we are leaving _now_."

Dani looked down in defeat. "Will she be okay, Doctor...?"

"Dr. Shapiro. And, I will do everything I can to make sure your friend is okay."

_* * *_

"So how was your meeting with that old man?" Priscilla asked with a smirk.

Derek's jaw dropped. "You _knew?_ You knew that Mr. Smith was an old, smelly, fish-obsessed old man and didn't say anything?"

Her smirk widened into a full grin. "I wanted to see your reaction."

"If you want to see tomorrow, you will--"

"Derek?" There was a knock on the door, interrupting Morgan from his threats. "The doctor said I could find you here. This isn't your room, though?"

"Hey, Rossi," Morgan greeted with a smile. "Yeah, this is Priscilla's room. It's kind of lonely being by yourself, you know?"

"Of course, I understand."

Morgan nodded and turned to Priscilla. "Well, that's my cue to leave. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure, see you. Have fun, boys!" Priscilla called as Morgan and Rossi left.

"She seems nice," Rossi commented.

"You have no idea."

"You like her?"Can we leave her out of this please? She's the only good thing about this place, but no, I don't have a 'crush' on her," Morgan explained, feeling weakened by the fact that he had to resort to the grade-school term.

Rossi followed his train of thought and smiled. "Of course. So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, there is one thing I have to say....Remember how Dr. Young said I told him about you guys?"

"Yeah, I was actually wondering about that."

"Well, your questions are about to be answered. Thank me later," Derek joked. "David Rossi. He was one of the 'founding fathers' of the BAU. Even though he retired, he came back to profile some more. Because even though this job is tough, he is living proof that leaving it is tougher. He does what he does to help people, and because it's the right thing to do. David Rossi is the agent that everybody wishes they could know."

Rossi cleared his throat. "Well, thank you, Derek. Really, thanks."

* * *

Dr. Shapiro walked into his newest patient, Jennifer Jareua's room. It was a sad story, really—all of the doctors and nurses had already heard about it and tried to help, and even though he appreciated the effort, nothing was working. The only thing he could do for her was keep pumping her morphine to help with the pain. Plus, the only visitor she had was a teenage girl who got dragged out by her controlling mother.

According to the teenager, she had been out for hours. She was also a federal agent, which is probably how she came into contact with the strange poison.

Lost in thought, he almost didn't notice the twitch coming from the bed.

But there it was again, and there was no denying it—Jennifer had moved. He rushed to her bedside to help her through.

Her eyes fluttered open. Although her eyes were a bright blue, they were clouded over and distant.

"Jennifer Jareau? I'm Dr. Shapiro. Do you know what happened?" She shook her head slowly, wincing slightly. "Do you know where you are?"

She looked around the room, her wide eyes dashing from different places on the wall. "Hospital," she croaked, but the word was lost in a nasty coughing fit.

"Shh, shh," Dr. Shapiro pleaded. "Shh, it's okay." He rubbed her arm soothingly as her coughing subsided, and he made a mental note to check out her lungs more.

"Why can't I breathe?" She managed to rasp out.

"You were infected." Her eyes searched his face for more of an explanation, so he continued, "I don't know by what yet, but I promise I will find out."

"How...long?"

"How long were you out? I'd say a good three hours or so." But she shook her head. "Oh, you mean...how long do you have?" She pursed her lips and he stood up. "Enough time for me to make a diagnosis, and that's all that matters."

If his friend, Dr. Young, were here, he would tell him not to give the patient false hope.

Because the possibility of her living much longer was very low.

**I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Please, please review! Thanks a ton!**


	17. Chapter 17

**PROUDLY participated in Day of Silence today for GLBT rights. Anyone else?**

** Anyways, SORRY for the insane delay. I'm trying my best. Here you go!**

"Should we wait, or just go?" Hotch asked the team as they all sat on the plane, waiting for JJ.

"I've already called her four times," Prentiss said, "and Rossi called her twice as well. I think we should just go."

"Yeah," Reid agreed. "She knew the time we were supposed to be here, and she didn't make it. I don't know where she is, but it's her own fault. We should go; we have other things to take care of."

Hotch nodded and stood up to tell the pilot to go.

"Do you think we're being to hard on her?" Rossi asked as Hotch returned. "I mean, she was sick, and she didn't do anything on purpose--"

"Don't tell me you're going soft on us," Hotch said, only partly joking.

"Aaron, I'm serious. We are putting so much pressure on her to be _perfect_. We all know what she has to deal with on a daily basis, and we all know that none of us are perfect. She got sick for a few days, that wasn't her fault. And Morgan volunteered to give the press conference--"

"Don't you_ dare_ turn this around on him! It's not his fault, Dave, and you know it. He got shot, for crying out loud!"

"I never said it was his fault. I'm just saying maybe it's not JJ's. Maybe we are just taking our anger out on her."

"Actually, Rossi, I think this would be considered bargaining," Reid informed. "The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We practically skipped over denial, then anger came later on. Now is bargaining; maybe if JJ had given the press conference, Morgan wouldn't have been shot..."

"The kid's got a point," Rossi agreed. "I honestly believe we should rethink this."

"Rethink what, Rossi?" Prentiss asked. "JJ blew this whole thing out of proportion. It started with her blowing our cover when the brothers broke into the FBI academy, continued when she almost missed her press conference, then kept on going when Morgan had to take over. There's nothing to rethink."

"Uh, guys, sorry to butt in," Daniel said, "but from where I stand, this is what I'm getting: JJ got sick and Morgan offered to help. JJ didn't have anything to do with it, and this Morgan dude was just being a gentleman. There doesn't have to be a fault here."

"Listen to him," Rossi said after a few moments of silence. "He's right. Nobody should be to blame."

_Oh my G-d,_ Daniel thought, _what have I done? I'm definitely going to regret later on, when they forgive JJ and find out what I did...unless it did kill her?_

* * *

JJ woke up from a restless sleep in a coughing fit. Her body jerked up and she let out a string of nasty coughs, unable to get a breath of air without it being forced back out. Her hands felt along the side of the bed until it came in contact with a button her doctor had told her about—a button to page him.

She pushed the button, still coughing. She saw a couple nurses walk by and stare at her, but they didn't even think about coming in to help. They were probably afraid of catching whatever she had.

Dr. Shapiro came rushing into her room. At first, he paused, slightly taken aback by how bad her coughs had become, but he quickly unfroze and rushed over to JJ's bedside. Looking through the drawers, he cursed when he couldn't find the medicine he was looking for.

Rubbing her back, he yelled out into the hallway, "I need a nurse!"

A few nurses crowded around, too afraid to come in. "Dammit, get in here, _now!_ And bring something to help with the coughing, while you're at it."

Nobody moved to help the choking agent.

He yelled out again for the medicine he needed.

One nurse nodded, grabbed the medicine, and ran back into the room. Although she kept her distance, she handed Dr. Shapiro the liquid. He nearly had to force it down JJ's throat, but eventually she stopped coughing.

"You had me worried for a second there. You okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she murmured, glancing up at the nurse. She was standing in the doorway, too afraid to come in but curious as to what was wrong. JJ was disgusted.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good..."

"Look, if you want to know what's wrong, just ask! But don't stand there like a scared little puppy. You're not going to get sick, but I'm not a museum!" JJ nearly yelled, coughing a little again by the end.

Dr. Shapiro looked at the nurse in the doorway, who nodded and shuffled away. JJ sighed. "I feel like I'm on display. Do you know what wrong with me, Doc?"

"Not yet. But I'm doing everything I can," he assured her.

"Has my team come to visit?"

"Your team?"

"Yeah—the BAU. They...they're case is over, I would have thought..."

"No. I'm sorry."

She nodded. "It's fine; something else must have come up."

But even she knew it wasn't true.

* * *

"Hey, baby-girl," Morgan smiled. Garcia had _finally_ called him—it had been forever since they had spoken. "How did the case go?"

"_A little slow—I bet we would have gotten it over much faster with our Chocolate Thunder Cloud."_

Morgan laughed. "You know it's true.So how are you guys? How is JJ pulling through? And what about the new guy—Daniel, right?"

"_Yeah, Daniel. He's fine; we've had better though_." Morgan smiled at the indirect complement as she continued, _"He's a little out there, but I guess I'm not one to judge._"

"You're not kidding! Speaking of...there's something I need to talk to you about."

"_Anything. Shoot._"

"Penelope Garcia. The beautiful one. Probably wearing some ridiculous outfit that any unit chief besides Hotch would fire her for. She is the sweetest, most amazing person I've ever met. She can connect with anybody and everybody. She has the most eccentric, lovable personality ever and can turn any frown up-side down. Penelope Garcia is one person I can't live without."

"_That was beautiful, Muffin-cups."_

"Not as beautiful as you are, Baby-girl. Go get some rest; I know you must need it after your case."

"_Yeah. Sorry. TTYL?"_

"Later, gator." Morgan hung up the phone, smiling. He had told everyone.

Everyone except JJ.

JJ, who nobody seemed to want to talk about.


	18. Chapter 18

**Ackk I'm soooo sorry about the insanely long wait! I've written and re-written parts of this chapter so many times. I hope it lives up to expectations. Enjoy!**

"_Look, man, I have a bad feeling about this."_

Daniel sighed. "Tom, I told you. Everything is fine—we are back from the case, and nobody misses her yet."

"_You told me you weren't going to add the whole thing! You weren't supposed to add it all—that only gives her four, five days tops. How many has it been?"_

Daniel checked his watch. "Almost three. Well, maybe this is for the best. I mean, now there's no way for her to identify me--"

"_Yeah, _you._ I shouldn't have anything to do with this. As a matter of fact, when the police catch us, I'm laying it all on you. I had absolutely nothing to do with it."_

Tom hung up abruptly, and Daniel shrugged, fidgeting at something his 'friend' had said.

Because he said "when the police catch us".

Not if—when.

"I have good news," Dr. Shapiro said, "and bad news." He took one look at his sickly patient, pausing slightly. She just looked so unhealthy, yet there was something radiating from her face, lightening the room. Despite her overly pale features and persistent cough, she had a tiny smile that may as well have been as big as the Great Wall of China. Because that one small grin brightened even his day.

He wondered what it would have been like to see her real smile.

"Which do you want first?"

She sighed, and the smile faded. He winced, upset that her best feature could disappear so suddenly. "Give me the bad news," she whispered hoarsely. Talking was becoming increasingly difficult, but she was too stubborn to use the white board he had provided. Still, he kept it right by her bed just in case. "I can handle it."

"Sorry, but this is one of the things where the good news has to come first."

She smiled again. It was barely there, and it was more of a grimace than anything else, but at least she could try to be happy. "So why--" she paused to cough, and Dr. Shapiro waited patiently "--did you give me the choice?"

Dr. Shapiro shrugged. "It seemed like the polite thing to do."

JJ tried to laugh at his joke, but couldn't get past the first noise before the once-lovely sound became an ugly choking. Dr. Shapiro put the oxygen mask over her mouth, but she swatted it away with a limp arm. "Don't make me laugh," she ordered weakly.

"Sorry. Anyways...the good news is we know what you have."

Her eyes lit up. Even though her smile didn't gain any radiance, her eyes became just the slightest bit wider and happier.

But just as quickly, she remembered that there was more news to come. "And the bad news?"

It hurt him to provide the woman with false hope. She was so strong, so confident, so wonderful, and here she was, dying in a hospital bed with nobody to surround her.

"You have a strain of anthrax." When he was about to explain what this meant, he saw the recognition gleam in her eyes and her face fell.

"You know what that is?" Not surprised, just questioning.

JJ nodded. "We've had a couple run-ins at work. Is that the bad news? I know...I know that it's hardly treatable."

"Well, the bad news is that this isn't a common strain—as a matter of fact, we aren't sure what strain this is. But knowing that it is anthrax can make searching easier and faster." He looked at her, cocking his head.

"What is it?" she sighed.

"Hmm?"

"I work with profilers," she reminded him quietly. "I can tell when someone wants to say something."

"Well...it's just—do you know who did this?"

"...what?"

"You were poisoned, and my guess is, it wasn't an accident."

A smile played at her lips. "You hinting at something, Doc? Am I a bad person?"

Avoiding the subject. Dr. Shapiro refused to play along, however. "You work for the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit. It can't be a coincidence when you get poisoned."

JJ looked down, avoiding her doctor's eyes. "I was poisoned by someone," she whispered.

"Who?" Dr. Shapiro asked, stepping forward to the side of her bed. He wanted nothing more than to get back at this son of a bitch who tried to take away this precious life.

"I can't remember," she managed to whisper, eyes glistening with tears she refused to let fall. "I know I was, I just can't remember anything."

Dr. Shapiro squeezed her hand. "Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly. "Don't worry about a thing. We will find out who did this, and make you better."

"This is _my_ job," she muttered. "You're job is curing people, mine is finding the bad guys. You shouldn't have to do both of our jobs."

He looked her in the eye. "For you, anything."

Once again, that sad smile consumed her face. She nodded in thanks before unwillingly drifting off into a fitful sleep.

Dr. Shapiro scribbled down something on her chart and left. Closing his eyes, he sighed and rested his head in his hands, leaning on the counter.

"Everything okay?" He heard the familiar voice of his friend, Dr. Young, but refused to look up at him.

"Oh, just peachy."

"Yeah, I can tell. Really, man, what's wrong?"

"It's my patient." Shapiro admitted reluctantly.

"Oh." All doctors knew all too well how this worked. Young put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Wanna talk? I'm free to listen."

Dr. Shapiro was going to politely decline, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Dr. Young paging somebody, most likely to cover for him.

He was willing to clear his schedule to talk, so there was no way to turn him down politely.

"She's FBI."

"Really? I have an FBI agent too. Sorry—continue."

Dr. Shapiro smiled slightly. "It's fine. She's an FBI agent, and she was poisoned in the line of duty with some form of anthrax. Nobody can figure out what type, which makes curing her nearly impossible. Plus, she's just so amazing. I don't understand why nobody will come to visit her! She keeps trying to be happy, but she just seems so...well, sad."

Dr. Young smiled and patted him on the back. "I have the perfect thing for you."

"I don't know. This all seems so...impossible. I really want to help her, but I don't know how."

"I don't think I can help with that, but I do know how to raise her spirits a little bit. And if I know you, then I know that her spirits raised will definitely help you smile a bit more."

"Continue..."

"I have this patient—the FBI one I was telling you about—who has helped so many of my other patients in one way or another. He got Mr. Billy—you remember him?--to get his surgery, he helped pull Priscilla out of her protective shell, and so much more."

"I don't know..."

"Come on! What is there to lose?"

Dr. Shapiro sighed. "You're right. Bring him in tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

"Will do."

"Again?"

"Derek, I thought you were loving this!" Dr. Young exclaimed. Perhaps a little too harsh, but still. He had promised his friend help, and Morgan was his help.

And Morgan was refusing to speak to one more patient.

"I _was_, past tense. There's only so much I can do before my priorities change to me being able to walk again!" This time, Morgan was the one being harsh, but it was true. He dedicated his entire life to helping people. Here he was, the one needing help, and he was still expected to take care of others. "Bullshit," he muttered out loud, but thankfully not loud enough for Dr. Young to hear him.

"Please, Derek," Dr. Young pleaded, "one more patient. She really needs help—she's an amazing young lady, but with nobody by her side. All I'm asking for is one visit, and then you are free to do what you want."

Morgan sighed. "One visit."

"Thank you. That's all I'm asking."

Dr. Young helped the reluctant Morgan into his wheelchair and pushed him down the hall to this mysterious patient's room. "Usually this is when you give me the back-story," Morgan noted. "What's different?"

"She isn't my patient. She is my friend's, but she really needs your help now. All I know is that she is a young FBI agent. Maybe you know each other?"

Morgan snorted. "Please. I don't know every agent there is out there, you know."

Dr. Young shrugged as they approached the room. "Just wondering."

To Dr. Young's surprise, Morgan gasped as he entered the room. Dr. Young looked up and grimaced. "I know she's not looking too good, but she's not contagious. I promise. Please, try not to--"

"Jayje," Morgan managed to get out.

"Excuse me?"

"JJ—that's SSA Jennifer Jareau, the BAU liaison! Oh my G-d," he exclaimed, wheeling himself to her bedside. "JJ," he grabbed her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

They saw JJ's eyes flutter slightly before they squeezed shut and she coughed harshly. Morgan froze for a moment, frightened by the horrible sound. Yet he continued to squeeze her hand comfortingly.

As the coughing subsided, JJ's eyes opened. "Morgan?" She managed to croak out.

"Shh, don't talk."

"You sound like my doctor," she joked, disobeying him.

Not surprised, Morgan chuckled a bit. "You sound terrible."

"Deja vu," she commented.

"Yeah," Morgan sighed regretfully. Then, "JJ...why are you here? It's not because of your 'cold', is it?" Suddenly he was angry. How could everyone—including himself—just overlook her illness? If she was so sick that she had to come to the hospital, why hadn't any of them been there for her?

"No, it's not that. I was poisoned," she whispered. "I can't remember by who—I think I'm, like, in shock or something. But it was anthrax."

Morgan scowled. Didn't they have enough anthrax problems already?

And who the hell would want to poison JJ?

"Where's the team?"

JJ shrugged. "I don't know—on a case, I guess."

Morgan shook his head. "Jayje, they came back from their case two days ago. How long have you been here?"

"That depends—what day is it?"

Morgan looked at her sympathetically. "You've got it really bad, don't you?"

As if on cue, she let out another string of coughs. "That's what I've been told. Morgan..." she hesitated, as if not sure she really wanted to say this out loud, before continuing, "aren't you mad at me?"

He rubbed her arm. "JJ, why on Earth would I be mad at you?"

"Because it's my fault. It's my fault you're here. If I had the press conference like I was supposed to, then you wouldn't have been shot. Everyone else is mad at me, and you actually have a reason to be...I don't know, it kind of feels like I'm here because of karma. You know?"

"No, JJ, I don't know. This is not your fault. There's nothing you could have done to prevent this—you hear me? Nothing at all." Morgan noticed her eyes closing before she made a conscious effort to open them. "You okay?"

"Tired." She mumbled.

"I'll let you get some sleep."

"Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay here?" Her voice was quiet and weak, soft and unsure—the exact opposite of the JJ he knew.

"Of course, JJ. Of course. I'll stay here as long as you need."

**Hope it was worth the wait. I will try and make updates more frequent now that the track season is over...keyword is 'try' :p**


	19. Chapter 19

**So sorry for the long wait! Life keeps getting in the way. **

**I leave for sleepaway camp soon (13 days), so I'm going to try and finish before then. Keyword-try. Hope you like it!**

"I was going to go visit Derek tomorrow," Garcia informed the team. They had been back for about a day and none of them had gone to visit him at the hospital since the case. "Anybody want to come?"

"Sure, I'll go," Reid said.

"Why don't we all go?" Hotch offered. "We're not getting any new cases soon..."

"Yeah, where's JJ?" Daniel asked innocently.

"I don't know," Prentiss shrugged, then changed the subject. "Maybe we should get him a get-well present?"

"Ooh, great idea, Pumpkin! Who wants to go to the mall to get him a feel better basket?"

"I'll go," Prentiss grinned, excited. It had been so long since she'd been shopping. Now that JJ was MIA, they had no new cases coming along...

"_Aren't they even getting curious?"_

"Nope, we are so under the radar," Daniel said with a smirk.

"_You know, this kind of sucks."_

"Are you crazy, man?" Daniel exploded. "We are totally getting away with this! What about any of this sucks?"

"_You never told me why."_

"Do I need to? Does there need to be a why?"

"_Yes, there does!"_

"How about you're my friend, and friends help friends out?"

"_How about no. You are not right in the head, man. Something's really off with you. You're a sicko, and I can't believe I actually helped you do this. You told me you would create the mixture to scare her, not kill her."_

"Doesn't matter what I said. The past is the past; there's no changing what already happened. Even if it involves a dead FBI agent."

"_Dead? Dude, you've really got to do something."_

"Like what?"

"_I don't know, turn yourself in!"_

"If I turn myself in, they'll know I don't have the skill to make such a complicated disease. They'll track you down, and you'll get in trouble too."

Tim hesitated, so long that Daniel almost thought he hung up. _"Just tell me why you wanted to in the first place._"

"Because they put my brother away. The BAU put my brother in prison, and JJ's the one who gave the public the profile. It was her first case."

"Guys, we have a problem." Reid said seriously as he came down to the bullpen.

"What is it?" Daniel asked as he and Prentiss stood up.

"JJ's room," Reid said, then whispered as though there was bad news that would cause the entire building to panic, "it's clean. Like, neat and stuff."

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't understand," Daniel finally admitted.

"JJ. She's...she's not neat. Never, ever, ever," Prentiss explained. "She just has piles upon piles of files and crap, all over her room. But to be organized..."

"Guys," Rossi interrupted, "I think something's wrong. Does anybody actually know where she is?"

Silence.

"Okay, this is not good."

"She's a big girl, she can handle herself," Prentiss countered.

"Not that, I know that. The problem is that none of us noticed. She's part of the team, and none of us have seen her for days. That's the problem. _We're_ the problem."

Once again, silence.

"Shh, shh, JJ. It's okay, shh," Morgan whispered, rubbing her back as she sat up, gasping and coughing again. It was the third time in the last hour that she woke up from a nightmare, each time having more difficulty breathing.

"It's not okay," JJ complained hoarsely once she got her breath back. Morgan nearly flinched at the rough sound of her voice. "I am _so close_, Morgan. You don't understand. I see everything leading up to it, and then—bam! A monster comes up and I wake up. It's not okay. I need to remember."

"Jayje, if you're in shock, there may be nothing you can do but wait it out."

"No, Derek! I can't wait it out! Somebody I know is trying to kill me! Who's to say he won't try and kill the rest of the team as well?"

He was speechless—the thought never crossed his mind.

"Exactly," she whispered, coughing again as she lay back down to try and get some more rest. "It's not okay."

"Nobody's asking you to do this alone, JJ. You have me, and the rest of the team, here for support."

"Really?" She whispered, eyes closed.

"Really."

"Then where are they?"

"What?"

"Where's the team?" She challenged him. "They aren't here because they don't care. None of them have come to visit, none of them called to ask if I was okay. None of them know I am here, Derek. I'm all alone now. I'm all alone."

"No you're not, JJ. I'm here. I'm here for you, and that's not about to change."

JJ was quiet, so quiet that Morgan thought maybe she fell asleep. However, after just a few minutes, she whispered so quietly he could barely hear her, "Thanks."

_And there was his reflection in the glass window of her car. Not a monster, not a green, slimy alien—a human being. One she recognized._

_She whirled around, dropping her phone. He threw something at her and took off. Next thing she knew, she couldn't breathe. _

_And it all came back to her._

It had been nearly 45 minutes since JJ fell asleep, and Morgan was smiling. He was so glad that she finally got to rest peacefully.

But then he remembered that he was angry. How could they do this to her? How could they just forget about her like this? After everything she did for them, and them to just leave her there as she lay in the hospital, dying?

He thought they were better than that.

JJ muttered something, and Morgan sighed. So much for a restful sleep.

She muttered it again, this time a little bit louder. Morgan leaned in closer to hear what she was saying.

"Daniel."

"What was that, Jayje?" He whispered.

"Daniel. Daniel. No, no! Get away from me, away from me. Don't...don't throw it. Daniel. Daniel."

Her eyes shot open and she jerked forward, coughing violently. Morgan tried to calm her down, but nothing worked. The coughs got worse quickly, and Morgan leaned back and yelled out into the hallway for Dr. Shapiro.

But then, the coughing stopped. He looked back over to JJ, the panic in her eyes tangible. Her hands gripped her throat, as if trying to rip it off and tear it open. The machine by her bedside picked up its beeping before letting out a long string of endless noise.

She couldn't breathe.

"JJ! Oh my G-d, JJ. Jayje, look at me. Look at me."

Her eyes rolled backwards and she fell back into her bed, her body jerking all over the place.

"Dr. Shapiro! DOCTOR SHAPIRO! SOMEBODY, HELP IN HERE!"

**Kind of short, but whatever. Getting closer and closer to the end...**


	20. Chapter 20

**So here's the next chapter! I kind of feel like I rushed through on this one...feedback is appreciated. Speaking of feedback, I _love_ all the reviews I'm getting! Thanks so much, glad you're enjoying it!**

**Trying to finish this before I leave for camp...8 days... :D**

**SO after tomorrow I will officially be done with freshman year! Yay!**

**Ha ha. Anyways...on with the story!**

If he had been able to walk, Morgan would have been pacing.

He would have paced back and forth across his room a hundred times (the doctors wouldn't let him stay in JJ's room whilst they were working on her). But he couldn't walk, and it made him want to cry. But he had gone through this whole ordeal barely shedding a tear, so he refused to let them fall this once.

Once, when he flashed back to what had happened, his breathing and heart had gone so uneven that a nurse raced into his room, fearing that he was unstable. He shooed her away though. And now he was more careful to control his emotions.

"Derek?" The quiet voice said from his doorway. Morgan looked up sharply, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Dr. Young and Dr. Shapiro stood there, faces lined in sorrow.

"What happened?" He asked, fearing for the worst but still hoping for the best.

_All she has is hope, why would you take that from her?_ JJ's words echoed through his head. Don't look so sad, he pleaded silently with the doctors. Don't take away my hope that she can pull through.

"The anthrax developed more quickly than expected," Dr. Shapiro explained slowly. "It grew rapidly in her lungs..."

"Your friend is in a coma," Dr. Young finished softly. "There's no way of telling if she'll make it."

His eyes filled with tears.

"A coma?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Derek."

He wouldn't let them fall.

"Can...can I see her?"

The doctors exchanged a glance.

He wouldn't lose control.

"I don't know if that such a good idea, Derek. The more time you spend with her..."

A single tear rolled down his cheek. _Dammit._

Dr. Shapiro sighed. "Okay, you can see her."

Too much in shock to make his own way to JJ's room, Dr. Young pushed him there. He rolled him to the side of her bed, where he grabbed her hand in his own. He made a point not to look at all the big, ugly machines attached to her unusually weak and breakable body.

"Can I have a second?" Morgan mumbled, not looking up.

"Sure, Derek," Dr. Young nodded, putting a comforting arm on Morgan's shoulder before leaving the room.

"Jennifer Jareau...the beautiful blonde. The face of the FBI; the face everybody looks for when they need something. And she doesn't mind it. As a matter of fact, she handles it pretty well." Morgan chuckled slightly. "She's strong—much stronger than she looks." He could almost hear her ask, _And what's that supposed to mean, Derek?_ "She's a crack-shot and she has the best personality ever. If you don't know her, you have no idea what you're missing out on. Because Jennifer Jareau is like a sister to me, and I could never ask for anything else."

Tears fell down his face.

"Hello, we're here to see Derek Morgan," Hotch informed one of the nurses at the hospital. The whole team was there—even Daniel was talked into coming.

"Sure, right this way," the nurse said, leading them towards the door.

"Hmm, that's strange," she commented, sounding slightly concerned.

"What's the problem?" Hotch asked, his voice strained.

"He's not here. Let me go ask his doctor," she said as she led the team towards Dr. Young.

"_You lost our Agent?"_ Rossi almost yelled, but held back.

"Excuse me, Dr. Young?" The nurse asked politely. "Where is Derek Morgan? He has visitors."

Two doctors turned around. One they recognized as Dr. Young, Morgan's doctor. The other was unfamiliar.

"Are you the BAU?" The doctor they didn't recognize asked.

"We are," Prentiss answered slowly. "Who are you?"

His eyes met the teams' with a cold, hard stare. Garcia nearly cowered away. "My name is Dr. Shapiro. I am Jennifer Jareau's doctor. Derek is in with Jennifer."

Garcia and Emily gasped in shock. Reid's mouth was hanging open; even Rossi and Hotch were speechless.

"What happened to Jennifer?" Daniel asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Dr. Shapiro looked at Dr. Young, who answered, "Why don't you see for yourselves."

He started walking and led them down the hall. Looking through the closed doors, the team could see just the back of a wheelchair, with an arm reaching out towards the bed.

Dr. Young opened the door a crack and poked his head in. "Derek? There are some people here to see you."

He turned around slowly, the disappointment in his eyes becoming more intense (if that was possible) when he saw his coworkers standing in the doorway, Garcia with a present in her hand.

"How are you feeling, Derek?" Hotch asked.

"Me? Oh, I'm great. But JJ...not so much."

"Where..._oh._" Reid gasped. He had hardly recognized the frail, pained body of JJ, lying in the bed, attached to so many intimidating machines.

"Oh my gosh," Emily brought a hand to her mouth. "What happened?"

"Four days," Morgan muttered, then got louder. "Four days! She was here, awake, for four days. _Four damn days_. But for those four days whilst you had nothing to do, you don't even _think_ about wondering where she is. No, you just keep living your lives, while your friend is lying in a hospital bed, dying from some mysterious poison. Do you know how long four days is to be wondering where your friends are when you need them most? Do you know how she felt, all those times she woke up and expected someone to be there for her, only to see nobody?"

"Derek, I'm sorry," Prentiss said, tears in her eyes.

"Oh no, Miss Emily. You do _not_ get to apologize to me, and you do _not _get to cry! If you really cared about her, you would have shown it before. You don't deserve to be in here. You don't deserve to have a friend like her."

"Morgan-" Rossi began, but he was cut off.

"NO, Rossi! No! Leave, right now! All of you, _leave!_ Do us all a favor and just go! I know as well as you do that you don't want to be here. So make yourselves happy and GO!"

Even from a wheelchair he was intimidating.

Hotch nodded and backed up, nodding at the team for them to follow. They obeyed, half of them holding back regretful and guilty tears; the other half letting them flow down their faces.

Daniel, however, stopped in the doorway. "Agent Morgan, I want to say-"

"Who the _hell_ are you?"

"My name is Agent Cooper. I'm your temporary fill-in. You can call me Daniel, though."

Morgan's eyes widened. "So you're Daniel?"

He smiled an embarrassed smile. "Did the team tell you about me?"

"Well, mostly JJ."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. You know, what she told me was that you were the one that poisoned her."

Daniel opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Morgan!" Rossi snapped. "You can't go around blaming other people. I know you are angry with us, and you have every right to be pissed, but Daniel had absolutely nothing to do with this."

"JJ would beg to differ."

"Morgan, she's completely out of it!"

"Worse than that, Rossi. She's in a coma. Yeah, a coma." He let that piece of news sink in before continuing, "But before she...before she went into the coma, the last thing she said was 'don't poison me, Daniel'. Or something along those lines."

"Derek, please," Garcia begged, crying. "Please don't do this. We just need everything to go back to normal. They will find out what's wrong with JJ. You will walk again. Everything will find a way to work itself out. But don't do this—don't tear us apart. Not now."

Morgan hesitated. "So who are you going to listen to? Who are you going to believe? Me, the agent you have all known since you joined the bureau, or this new guy? This man who you just met and barely know, or the girl who has done so much more for the team than any of us could even consider? Your choice. Either believe me and save Jayje, or believe him and lose us both."


	21. Chapter 21

**Wtf. Wtf. Wtf. WTF. WTF. WTF.**

**HOW THE HELL CAN CBS CUT AJ COOK?**

**NOT OKAY AT ALL.**

**AT ALL.**

**AT ALL.**

**I'M JUST A LITTLE PISSED RIGHT NOWW.**

**AND CUTTING BACK ON PAGET BREWSTER?**

**SO NOT OKAY.**

**And I kind of don't understand people who decide to stop writing JJ fanfiction after she leaves the show. I get not watching, but to me, writing is the one way to keep her character alive (figuratively). I'm going to continue, you can count on that.**

"What the hell was that all about?" Prentiss asked once they'd left Morgan alone in JJ's room, much against her pleasure.

"No idea," Daniel said, eyes wide and voice curious. "I don't blame him at all for being angry with me, but I just can't believe he'd blame me for something like that."

"He wouldn't," Reid said.

"He did," Daniel pointed out.

"No, no, not what I meant," Reid shook his head. "I mean, he _wouldn't_. Like, Morgan actually would not do something like that. I'm not in denial, it's legitimately something that is against...how do I put it? His code of conduct. When he gets angry, he punches something. When he gets upset, he backs away. But he _never_ blames other people for anything without sufficient evidence, and even then we're talking unsubs."

"The kid's got a point," Rossi agreed.

"I know I do," Reid blurted, each word getting faster and faster with excitement. "which means that either something's wrong with Morgan, or Daniel poisoned JJ."

"I don't believe it," Emily admitted. "I honestly cannot believe that Daniel poisoned JJ. _That_ is against his code of conduct."

"Thank you," Daniel muttered.

"Em, really? Listen to yourself. You know Morgan so much better than you know Daniel. You're really choosing his side?" Garcia said.

"I'm not choosing anyone's side. I'm just stating my opinion."

"Ladies, chill," Hotch ordered quietly.

"Wellyour _opinion_ is way off! My chocolate wonderwall is currently in a wheelchair-"

"Because of JJ! He's in a wheelchair because of Jennifer! I know you, of all people, would understand that! And now JJ is trying to get us back by pulling us apart. And it's working!"

"What, you think that she's some undercover spy sent to tear apart the BAU six years after she joined? Give me a break!"

"Everyone, calm down!" Hotch yelled, louder than anyone had ever heard him before. People walking through the hospital turned and stared at the arguing team. "Just calm down. JJ _is_ part of our team. So is Morgan-"

"But there's a difference," Emily spat. "Morgan is in the hospital because of JJ. JJ is in the hospital—"

"Because of us!" Garcia cried. "Do you not understand what we've been doing to her? Does nobody but me now see this?"

"I do," Rossi nearly whispered. "I see what you're talking about."

"Well, enlighten me," Prentiss suggested sarcastically.

"She was sick," Garcia explained, tears now falling freely down her face. "She is human, something none of us acknowledged before this. She is human, and she got sick. Perfectly normal. However, when somebody in the FBI gets sick, things get out of hand. If she had been the one giving the press conference that day, she would have been shot. But she was sick..." Garcia trailed off.

"And we've been blaming her," Rossi continued for Garcia. "We've been blaming JJ for getting sick, something she had no control over. Now she's in the hospital, and none of us had any idea. None of us knew where she was, but nobody cared enough to try and find her until we saw her in a coma in the hospital. Poisoned."

He paused and let that sink in. Daniel groaned and walked away, giving the team space.

"Poisoned with what?" Reid muttered before spotting Dr. Shapiro walking by. "Um, excuse me, doctor! Dr. Shapiro! Yeah, hi, excuse me," he said, clearing his throat. "What has JJ been poisoned with?"

Dr. Shapiro looked over the team briefly before responding, "Anthrax. A genetically altered form of anthrax." He walked away quickly.

Hotch groaned. "Haven't we dealt with anthrax enough in the past years? Okay, okay. Daniel—where is he?"

They all looked around in confusion for their newest team member until Prentiss pointed, "He's over there. I'll go get him." She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, gesturing him back over to the rest of the team.

"Okay, Daniel, I have no choice but to peg you as a suspect."

"Really, Hotch?" Daniel asked, a smile playing on his mouth. But in reality, he was afraid.

"Really," Hotch answered apologetically.

"Why would I want to poison JJ?" Daniel asked slowly, cautiously. "What...I don't know, what benefit could I have from it?"

"Benefit?" Reid spat. "Who could have any _benefit_ from torturing someone like that, let alone JJ? Whoever the hell did this, obviously did NOT benefit from it."

"Okay, maybe benefit was the wrong choice of words," Daniel said through his teeth. One by one, each of the team members was turning against him. How long until they were all on JJ and Morgan's side?

How long until he was caught?

"Okay, when is the last time anyone saw Jennifer?" Hotch asked, reluctantly using her full name. He (and the rest of the team) was more comfortable treating her like the victim if they distanced themselves. So they did.

"Well," Rossi answered hesitantly, "Daniel was with her last, in that Montgomery County case."

"I wasn't the last one with her!" Daniel objected.

"Yes, you were," Rossi reminded him. "You turned around to get your phone from the car, when JJ was calling Hotch about the case. That's the last time any of us saw her."

"I...I don't remember that," Daniel spluttered. "Plus, how would I be able to poison her? I don't have the ingredients to make anthrax!"

"Wait a second," Rossi's eyes narrowed, "how did you know it was anthrax? You weren't here when the doctor said anything..."

Daniel opened his mouth to answer, but closed it quickly. _Shit_. He screwed up.

"Yeah," Reid said, his voice a little too high. "You weren't here. You were over there. How could you know?"

And with that, Daniel took off.

"Hey!" Garcia exclaimed, her hand covering her mouth in shock. Hotch and Emily ran after him.

He sprinted forward, pushing people out of the way. The two agents followed closely behind. Just before he made it to the front door of the hospital, Prentiss caught up. She grabbed onto his arm and pulled it backwards, knocking him over. She was now standing over him, glaring down.

"How could you?" She spat. "How could you poison her? She is a member of this team—of this _family. _All you've ever done is pit us against each other and force us apart. Well not anymore. How could you?"

"You don't understand," he snarled. "You don't know what she did."

"I do," Reid said quietly, startling the both of them. "I know what she did."

"Reid!" Prentiss gasped. Hadn't he realized already? It took her long enough. JJ didn't do anything wrong!

"Prentiss, listen to me. JJ gave the press conference. It was her first one, and it was incredible. We all remember it, right? We caught the guy later that day. His name...was Peter Cooper. And he was your brother."

Daniel groaned. "Yes, she caught my brother!"

"And you poisoned her to get back at her."

"No-"

"Yes, you did. Your best friend worked in the biology field—I remember because we pegged him as a suspect at first. So you asked for some help to poison her."

"Yes, okay! It was me!"

"And now you're going to give us the cure."

**I'm SO SO SO SO SOOOOO sorry this update took so long. First I was at camp for a month, then I started work the next day. Anyways, this summer has been super busy. But I still found time! One (?) more chapter to go! **


	22. Chapter 22

**DONE! YAY! No more waiting endlessly for updates! (Sorry, I was so insanely busy. Vacation, then school started and homework. Yay for AP classes!...sike.) **

**anyways, hope you enjoyed! Thanks for sticking with me this whole time!**

"_Emily? You okay?"_ Was the first thing JJ heard when she finally came around. The voice sounded familiar...and so did the name...she just couldn't place it.

"_Yeah, I just feel so bad. I can't believe I actually believed Daniel._" Prentiss, of course! Emily Prentiss. And the man talking was...Hotch.

"_We all did, not just you."_

"_Yeah, I know, but—I mean, look at her. She's so...I don't know, pale. She's pale and fragile and-"_

"Thanks," JJ managed to croak out, with some effort. Followed by a whole lot of coughing.

"JJ! Doctor, she's up." Rossi's voice now.

"JJ, can you calm down and breathe for me? That's it, just breathe slowly," Morgan coaxed, rubbing her arm. Her coughing subsided. "Do you think you can open your eyes?"

Taking a deep breath (as deep as she could without having another coughing fit), she felt her eyes flutter slightly before opening. She squinted against the sudden light. Finally, once her eyes adjusted, she noticed her surroundings. All six of her teammates were crowded around her, leaning in as if she was on display. "Whoa there, personal space," she whispered hoarsely.

"Here, have some water," Reid offered, handing her a cup of water. She drank it down greedily. When was the last time she had anything to drink? "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just swallowed a whole desert," she answered honestly. "And then inhaled another."

The team tried, and failed, to smile at her attempt for a joke.

"Hey there, Jennifer," another familiar face made its way into the room. She recognized this man as her doctor, Dr. Shapiro.

"Hi," she whispered, coughing again—a little less violently this time, but scary nonetheless. She groaned when she could finally breathe again.

"Yeah, that's going to happen for a while. Don't worry though—we'll keep you here for just another day or so to monitor you, and in a week you should be good as new."

"So you found the cure?" She asked.

"Well, your team did," he said with a slight smile.

She looked to them for an explanation.

"Well," Morgan began, "before you...you know, were comatose, you had a dream. You started yelling something about Daniel, telling him not to poison you. Next thing I know, you're gone, and they're here."

"We finally got Daniel to admit to it," Emily continued, "and told him if he gave us the cure, we would consider a making a deal." She shook her head. "Good thing the bastard was gullible."

Instead of thanking them, JJ just glared. "And that's supposed to make everything better?"

"What?" Hotch asked, moving in closer in case he heard wrong.

He didn't.

"After everything that happened, you expect me to just forgive you? Yes, I'm grateful that you saved my life, but you nearly ruined it just a few days ago."

"JJ..." Prentiss nearly gasped.

"Don't even tell me I'm being unfair. I want to trust you guys again. I do, really. I just...I don't know if I can."

"You can trust us," Hotch said quietly. "We're here for you, JJ. We always will be."

She just shook her head and whispered, "I used to think that too. I can't believe you and get hurt again. I don't think I can take it."

"JJ-" Rossi began, but Morgan cut him off.

"Guys, can I talk to her for a minute?"

Shocked, the team just nodded and silently backed out of the room. Morgan wheeled himself next to her bed.

"Don't tell me to forgive them. They almost killed me," JJ said before Morgan could.

"I know," he said understandingly. "They were the ones being unfair. The way they treated you... But I talked to them." He chuckled to himself. "Well, yelled at them really. Told them how they were acting. And they seemed truly, genuinely sorry."

JJ groaned, which lead to another fit of coughing. Morgan waited patiently. "Don't you see, Derek? Can't you see what they did to me?_ Sorry doesn't cut it_. I really, really want to be able to trust them again. I want to be a part of the team again. But after everything that happened...I just don't think it's possible. I'm sorry, Derek."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to them." He gestured outside, where the team was standing. Most of them were pacing. JJ even caught Garcia wipe a tear from her cheek. "If you leave, you will be hurting us all. JJ, they were upset about what happened to me. They needed someone to blame."

"Me?" she asked hoarsely.

Morgan nodded. "I know it wasn't your fault. Not at all. But that's just how the human mind works—but you already know that."

JJ nodded. "I blamed me too," she said quietly, looking down. "I thought it was my fault also. Is that why?"

JJ saw the shock flash across his face. "Uh, yes. Yeah, that's why. They knew it wasn't your fault, but they were angry and had to be angry at someone. Did you...did you say you blamed yourself?" JJ nodded weakly. "JJ, it's not your fault. Not at all, do you hear me? Girl, you can't help what happened. None of this is your fault. None of this is _anyone's_ fault. Sometimes, that's just how things pan out."

"Okay, I hear you."

"No, that's not enough. Just because you hear what I'm saying doesn't mean you're listening. I need you to understand. Nobody blames you. This was not. Your. Fault."

She nodded. "Okay, I get it. Thanks, Derek. Really."

"Anytime. So do you think you can at least talk to them?"

She took another look out the window. Emily was pulling a shaking Garcia into a tight hug. Reid was nervously biting his lip, watching the two embrace. Emily buried her head in Garcia's shoulder, presumably crying.

JJ was surprised to see Rossi walk over to Hotch and put his hand on his shoulder, mouth moving with words she couldn't hear. Hotch was nodding and avoiding eye contact, while Rossi was putting himself in their boss's view. She could only imagine the conversation.

"_This isn't your fault, Aaron. You, of all people, should know that this is how the human mind works. You couldn't help it. Blah blah blah."_

"_Dave, you don't understand. I _believed_ him. I believed a complete stranger over one of our own—over JJ, for G-d's sake."_ And on and on.

But what really threw her was what happened next.

Daniel limped down the hall in an orange jumpsuit, surrounded by both doctors and police. She looked at Morgan questioningly, fear evident in her eyes.

What was he still doing here?

But Morgan smirked. "Emily, uh, roughed him up a bit, trying to get him to admit."

And then it happened. As he passed her room, his gaze was fire and ice. Harsh, intense. JJ nearly cowered back in the bed, but stopped herself. She won, she had to be strong.

Then his expression changed. Although his features didn't soften in the slightest, his fierce frown curled upward into a menacing, threatening grin.

Something in his eyes warned her that this wasn't over.

But Prentiss noticed.

Pulling away from Garcia abruptly, she stared Daniel down with a cold, hard stare. She backed up until she was standing in front of the window to JJ's room, blocking his view.

The rest of the team noticed as well. The guilt in their eyes melted away into anger, contempt.

Hatred.

They all walked over to Prentiss, following her lead. Suddenly, all JJ could see were the backs of her coworkers.

Then, before she knew it, they all slowly dispersed. Taking their time, they stepped away from the window and glared at the door, where JJ assumed Daniel was.

Finally, she nodded wearily. Then more confident.

"Yes. Yeah, I forgive them."

**THE END.**

**Um. So I kind of feel like this is a weak ending. Oh, well. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Hope you liked the story!**


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